AN unsigned indie band will battle it out for a place in the national finals of a competition which rewards the winner with a lucrative record contract.

The Stonedrifters, from Billingham, are the only Teesside band left in the Live and Unsigned competition.

They are among the final 16 North-East bands who will perform in Newcastle next month in a bid to reach the national finals.

Two bands will go through to the final stage of the competition.

Winners of the competition, which received more than 10,000 entries, will be given a £20,000 record contract and tour dates.

The Billingham five-piece, who cite their influences as Led Zeppelin, The Doors and The Verve, hope to impress the judges.

The group, who have been together for about three years, performed on David Macmillan's Radio Tees show on Thursday evening.

The band are now busy preparing for the next round, which takes place at the Theatre Royal, in Newcastle, on Sunday, April 27.

Gary Ferguson, 23, the band's frontman and rhythm guitarist, said the band had been singled out by one of the judges as one of the best in their heat.

He said: "It was amazing to get through.

When we came off stage, one of the judges, who is the guy who signed Craig David, said we were the best band he had heard that night. We had really wanted to impress him, so that was quite cool."

He said the group, who have just got a new bass player, were now working on new material for the next stage of the competition.

"The next song needs to be a pop song. All our stuff is indie-based and we performed our most poppish song in the last round. So we are trying to write a suitable song," he said.

"We are a bit nervous. Only two from 16 get through, so we will have to be quite good.

"We will be taking a coach-load of people with us to help cheer us on."