AN ambitious plan for a new hall for Wantage Silver Band will be announced to the sound of music on Friday evening.

The wraps will come off the band's plan for the future at its Last Night of the Proms concert and will be on display in the foyer of the Civic Hall.

If everything goes well, and the organisation gets planning permission from the Vale of White Horse District Council, the new hall will be on the Tugwell Field site next to the A417.

That will give the band a permanent home at last.

It used to meet in Wantage Junior School before that was demolished and since then has had a nomadic existence.

The district council has offered to provide land in the corner of the playing field for a token rent on a 99-year lease.

For the band, Alan Sykes said; "The hall will be an oak-framed barn-like structure.

"It will combine the requirements of the band with the needs of the Concords Football Club teams who use the pitches on the Tugwell Field.

"The main building will have two large halls on the ground floor - one of them a full-height performance hall - with a kitchen, storerooms, lavatories and a recording studio.

"The first floor will have smaller rehearsal and practice rooms.

"This new hall will be comparable to the St Mary's music and arts block, which is under threat of demolition, and it will be open for community use."

Bandmaster Eileen Sykes said; "We are very grateful for the support from town and Vale councillors and officers, who have worked hard to provide a home for the band.

"Our plans for the hall are deliberately very grand as we wish to provide a permanent facility for the music and arts community in Wantage and district. We are looking forward to final approval for the scheme. Then the fundraising can really begin. We hope it will attract a lot of support from grant-giving bodies."

No figure has been announced for the fundraising target.

Formed as a children's band in 1972, Wantage Silver Band now has more than 180 players of all ages, organised in three brass bands. There is also a thriving youth band and two training bands.

The Last Night of the Proms concert, at 7.30pm, will be the first major concert since the band's promotion into the premier league of performing bands last January.