Smithills School Senior Brass Band has been crowned the National Festival of Music For Youth champions for the fourth year running.

It is the sixth time in seven years that the band, conducted by Chris Wormald, has scooped the award.

The annual festival was held in London's Royal Festival Hall, where the Smithills pupils performed two arrangements.

They delighted judges with their rendition of The Second Symphony by Mahler, a specially arranged composition lasting ten minutes, and a march entitled The Champions.

Smithills took on eight of the country's top school bands to claim the title.

The result means that Smithills has never failed to win or be placed second in nine consecutive years of entering the contest.

Its performance follows an appearance in the interval at Lord's Cricket ground on Tuesday, where the band played in front of 29,000 people during England's match against the West Indies. The band also played with the James Cook High School band, from Auckland, New Zealand, which hosted the band's trip to its home country last year.

The group is also the current Besson National Youth Brass Band Champions of Great Britain after winning the title earlier this year. The band has dominated national brass band competition finals for the past 11 years, and won the last four competitions it has entered.