A former colliery band is back in tune having virtually returned to its roots.

Durham County Cricket Club and Chester-le-Street District Council offered a lifeline after hearing that the Newcastle Brown Ale Band was in danger of disbanding.

Members feared the worse when a sponsorship agreement with Scottish and Newcastle Breweries ended after 28 years.

But the cricket club and council backing now sees them playing under the banner of Chester-le-Street Riverside Band.

Fox Advertising, of Durham, and mineral extraction company, The Banks Group, of West Cornforth, County Durham, also backed the cause, sponsoring the 28-strong ensemble, which is ranked fourth in the top nine championship bands in the north.

They staged a relaunch concert recently, at the cricket club's Riverside ground in Chester-le-Street, and raised £3,000 in the process.

The move to Chester-le-Street brings the band almost full circle, having begun life as a Methodist Band, in nearby Pelton Fell, in 1880.

It is a particularly triumphant note for members of the Thompson family, of Chester-le-Street, who have been steeped in the North-East brass tradition.

Band manager Tony Thompson is principal cornet player in a section dominated by his family.

Grandfather Jack Bridgewater was a bandsman and father Ray is a former secretary of the band, as well as playing cornet.

Tony's wife, Pauline, also plays cornet, as does his brother Carl, whose partner, Elaine Carr, is a horn player.

"It's been a great move for the band. We've raised more money recently than we have for years, and it's given us a new lease of life," said Tony.

The band can be seen performing at an open weekend at St Nicholas Cathedral, Newcastle, on Sunday, June 16, from 2pm to 4pm, and at an NSPCC concert - backing Graham Danby and his wife, Valerie Watson, both of the English National Opera - at the Colebrook Audi garage, North Shields, on July 3.

The season culminates in a Last Night of the Proms performance, at the Riverside, on September 27.