MALVERN'S Bands in the Park season got off to a soggy start when the opening concert was cancelled due to the torrential bank holiday weather.

The Alcester Victoria Silver Band was booked to perform in Priory Park on Sunday, May 27, to start the annual series of 15 concerts.

But steady rain meant the band, one of the oldest established brass bands in the country, was unable to use the electrics for the amplification equipment.

Town clerk Richard Chapman said: "It was a terrible shame. We had to cancel the concert but better that than people getting soaked."

This is the sixth year the town council has organised the Bands in the Park event.

This year each concert will include some of Sir Edward Elgar's music to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth.

The next concert, performed by the Lydbrook Band, will be held on Sunday, June 3, and will consist entirely of Elgar's compositions. Edward Elgar was born on June 2, 1857.

Mr Chapman said this event would definitely go ahead as the council has arranged to stage it inside the Malvern Theatres if the weather is wet.

The concert starts at 2.30pm and will last for about two hours.