MUSIC fans were given a treat when the Smithills School Brass Band took to the stage at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

More than 7,000 people listened to the band as it played in the 30th anniversary of the Schools Proms.

Chris Wormald, assistant head at Smithills and conductor, said: "It was an absolutely fantastic evening.

"It was sold out and the audience clearly loved it from the word go."

The band opened with the Common Man by Aaron Copland.

Smithills concluded the first half of the evening with performances of Army of the Nile by Kenneth Alford and Resurrection by Gustav Mahler, during which the audience was given a hand-held light, while the lights in the Royal Albert Hall were lowered.

Presenters included Lisa Duscombe, of Classic FM and Howard Goodall, composer and broadcaster who wrote Saraswait especially for Smithills to perform on their recent tour of America