IT is 30 years since the miners' strike - and still the bitterness runs deep. So deep, in fact, that a theatrical production has been dragged into the lingering controversy.

Durham Constabulary Brass Band had been booked to perform in a production of Brassed Off at Darlington Civic Theatre next month.

But the show is set against the backdrop of the pit closures of 1984 and Durham Miners Association objected to the involvement of a band associated with the police.

With the potential for Darlington Civic Theatre being picketed by miners, the police band has quit and been replaced by - you've guessed it - Durham Miners' Association Band.

What a script! The only line missing is a conductor called Thatcher being ousted by a baton-waver called Scargill.

The irony is that the police band is made up of civilians, rather than serving officers, but that doesn't matter to the miners' association. The word "police" is enough to warrant a protest.

So why didn't the producers sign up the miners' band in the first place? Or another North-East band, independent of the fierce battles of 1984? Didn't any alarm bells ring when a police band was booked for a show set the midst of one of the angriest industrial confrontations Britain has known?

The cynical might even be left to wonder if there could be method in the madness. A Durham police band taking part in a show about the pits strike was bound to cause a stir, and a miners' band coming to the rescue is the perfect response.

It's either all very short-sighted and a bit pathetic that the events of 30 years ago can still get in the way of a show at a local theatre. Or it's a brilliant piece of marketing manipulation.

Either way, historic passions has been revived, valuable national publicity has been generated for the show, and a bit more brass will be spent on tickets.

The result is that no one's really brassed off - apart from the disappointed civilian members of the Durham Constabulary Brass Band.