A VETERAN promoter who has organised thousands of events is holding one last concert to mark the end of his career.

John Banner, of Bramley Avenue, Worcester, started organising events when he was 12-years-old.

Mr Banner started by holding a card game for the British Red Cross and went on to organise cricket and football matches, motorbike grass track racing, and discos.

The 75-year-old, originally from Leigh, near Worcester, even organised a beauty pageant to raise cash for his football team.

Mr Banner has now decided to call it a day and hold his last event with the chart-topping band The Searchers.

“I’ve probably organised thousands of events. The first event I put on was a whist drive for the British Red Cross,” he said.

He said the card game raised seven shillings and six pence for the British Red Cross and kickstarted his passion for organising events.

“I organised Miss Leigh United.We held it to raise money for the football team. I started a football team called Leigh United," he said.

"We put on dances and Miss Leigh United would be in the interval.

“Quite a few girls entered. We had local sport celebrities judging it. It ran throughout the 1960s. Valerie Jauncey was the first Miss Leigh United in 1963.”

Mr Banner said he only stopped running the pageants when he became self-employed in 1969 and moved to London.

But his events were not just limited to organising pageants, football and cricket matches.

“I have organised virtually all the motorcycle grass track racing at the three counties showground. I’m a motorbike fan,” Mr Banner said.

He he has been a disc jockey since the early 1960s and put on many concerts.

His days of organising will come to an end with a concert by The Searchers in Huntingdon Hall, Worcester, at 7pm on St George’s Day (Sunday, April 23).

Mr Banner has organised St George's Day concerts every year since 2004 through John Banner Promotions.

The promotions business has donated money to a chosen charity after each of these yearly events.