EUROPEAN relations may have been strained recently, but a Worcester band has been using the power of music to heal the rifts.

The surreal and deeply moralistic George Cowley Experience , named after the veteran letter writer in the Evening News, has returned from its first European tour with some invaluable information.

As well as trying out new songs like Chantilly Billy and old favourites such as Throckmorton Blues in France, Germany and Holland, Pete Unwin and his band went on a fact-finding mission.

Members leapt into action last month after a fierce argument broke out on the Evening News letters page about attitudes to litter in Worcester and Germany.

Another letter writer, German Dieter Schroeder, was highly critical of the litter in Worcester's city centre.

He said such an unsightly mess would not occur in his home town of Trier.

Herr Schroeder's views were met with opposition, but it now appears he was right all along.

The Experience visited Trier on tour, travelling hundreds of miles in Mr Unwin's Toyota Corolla, with its faulty fifth gear.

The band inspected the town's streets in the early hours of the morning and found them to be almost as clean as Mr Schroeder claimed.

"It's a beautiful mediaeval town," said Mr Unwin. "There was a bit of litter around the fountain in the town square at midnight, but the streets were mainly very clean and the people were friendly. We have to hold our hands up."

Although plans to record an Esperanto album have been shelved, the group's quest for world domination is alive and well.

Mr Unwin said some copies of the group's charity album, Invaders from Marrs, had found their way to troops in the Gulf during the war.

Furthermore, band member Rosie J has flown to Japan to teach English for five months.

"World domination is not far away. We're spreading the gospel according to Cowley," said Mr Unwin.