THE top brass of the country's best loved bands gave a silver jubilee performance in a North-East leisure centre at the weekend.

The Brass in Concert Championships - described by organisers as the North's own Last Night of the Proms - was won by Grimethorpe Colliery band, which inspired the film Brassed Off.

The 11 bands which competed at Spennymoor Leisure Centre on Sunday were there by invitation.

The championships are into their 25th year after being started in 1977 by Cyril Beere, to celebrate the opening of Rothman's cigarette factory in Darlington.

But despite the demise of most of the bands' collieries, the popularity of the competition has never waned.

The 800 tickets usually sell out within about two weeks and at Sunday's event, 100 names were on a waiting list for seats.

Paul Beere now runs the event with his wife, Jackie, after the death of his father several years ago.

Paul said: "It was started as a one-off by my family.

"The trade unions thought it was too good an event to let go, so the TUC and associated unions backed it.

"If we knew it was going to be this big, we would never have done it in the first place.

"These are the big boys playing, they're virtually semi-professional.

"The bands spend a lot of money to get these arrangements done purely for the competition."

Despite being charged with keeping the spirit of the mining towns alive, on Sunday the musicians were not afraid to break with tradition.

During one performance, tuba player Peter Smith, from the Todmorden Old Band, arrived on stage dressed in a poncho and sombrero, to perform a piece he had written about a seven-year-old Mexican tuba player and his unsuccessful attempts at serenading women