A ROCK band from Bewdley has hit the right note with music fans after raising almost £8,000 in two years for a cancer charity.

Tom the Frop raised the cash with just five gigs for Cancer Research UK.

Bass guitarist, Max Keen, said: "We wanted to support Cancer Research UK purely because we have known a lot of people who have had cancer. My dad and my uncle died from it so we thought it was something worthwhile for us to support."

The band's first gig for the charity came just months after a fan died from the disease in 2002.

The cash goes to the Wyre Forest branch of Cancer Research UK. Mr Keen said: "They are absolutely fantastic and dedicated people and they have supported us by giving us banners and posters and stewarding the shows."

The band, which closed Bewdley Festival in 2003, hopes to raise even more cash for the charity with a new show dubbed the "Magical History Tour", which takes a chronological journey through The Beatles songbook. The group performed the show at a February fund-raiser at Bewdley Institute.

Mr Keen said: "It is not a tribute act. It is not a lookalike but is a history of the Beatles' music. It goes from 1957 in the skiffle days all the way through to the last two tracks from the Abbey Road album from 1969.

"What we try to do is steer away from the well-known singles like She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand and do tracks from the albums that people know but maybe haven't heard in a while."

He went on: "We were unsure how it was going to go because people know us for our stupid hats and acting daft but it went down better than we ever thought. It went down really well."

For more details about the band, visit www.tomthefrop.co.uk