THE cream of Worcestershire's rock youth gathered in Malvern for a battle of skills and the chance to represent the county.

The Worcestershire Battle of the Bands 2003 took place on the stage at Malvern Youth Centre on Friday.

A small army of around 200 fans came from four schools around the county to support the acts, who each had a 15-minute slot to impress the judges.

The event featured the top eight bands out of about 20 who had submitted demo tapes.

Victory in the competition meant a day in a recording studio and a place on stage at this week's Voices and Visions Showcase at Malvern Theatres. The showcase features the best in Worcestershire's arts talent.

The line-up featured three bands from Kingsley College, Redditch, one from Dyson Perrins CE High School in Malvern, one from Bishop Perowne CE High School in Worcester and two from Bewdley High School.

A reggae band and their supporters from Wolverley High School, Kidderminster were unable to make the event after their transport arrangements fell through. Another Malvern band, This Year's Model from Dysons, split up earlier in the week. They were replaced by Reckless Paradise from Bewdley.

After a hard day's axe wielding, compered by Wyvern FM's Tony James, the eventual winners were Kingsley College's A Losing Side, followed by schoolmates Even Scene and Twin Stevenson from Bewdley.

The judging panel was made up of West Malvern composer Paul Farrer, Paul White, editor of Sound on Sound magazine, Jim Turner from Cradley label Lockjaw Records and Matt Devenish, who runs the youth centre's recording studio.

Dysons music teacher John Cleary, who helped organise the competition, said he was very impressed with the standard of the bands.

"The final decision between the first two bands was very close," he said.

"I've noticed this year that there was increased interest in bands submitting entries. We're certainly going to run it again next year."