A COMMUNITY group in County Durham has achieved its aim to buy a bronze statue, thanks to the generosity of the village band.

Fishburn Brass Band staged a free concert in the village's working men's club to thank supporters for their help during the year.

Part of the evening included a raffle, for which the club donated several prizes, and the band insisted on giving the proceeds to the Fishburn Millennium Group.

The group has been fundraising for a number of years and needed just £180 to reach its £8,800 target for a statue to honour the village's mining heritage.

Millennium group member Christine Luke said: "The raffle raised £140, but the band put their hands in their pockets and gave us the £40 extra we needed to reach our target.

"They're struggling themselves, so to go and do something like that is quite touching. It was a wonderful gesture."

The group has commissioned artist Keith Maddison to produce a bronze statue of a miner emerging from a coal seam.

The W and M Thompson quarry, in nearby Bishop Middleham, has already donated a limestone block to represent the coal. With the money in place, it is hoped the statue will be ready to be unveiled on the village green this summer.

Billy Elliott, vice-president of Fishburn Band, said: "I'm an ex-miner myself and my father was killed at Fishburn Colliery.

"It was the miners who supported the band originally, so all we've done really is return the favour."