LONDON is calling a homegrown Kidderminster band who have battled it out to reach the finals of a national competition.

The Amateurs stole the show at the final of the Birmingham Emergenza UK Unsigned Band of the Year contest and will now play with groups from across the country in the capital next month.

The band is made up of Matthew Colley on guitar, piano and vocals, Andrew Fletcher on bass, drummer, Marcus Jones and newly recruited guitarist, Rich Oliver.

Rich, 25, is the bass player in covers group, Monkeys Punk, and previously had his own band called The Throwaways.

The competition, which took place at the Barfly in Birmingham, was the first time he had taken to the stage with the group, who played a 25-minute set, which included This One and Red Sky from the group's most recent EP, Let the Sun Shine In.

Matthew said: "We were surprised at the amount of people who had come to the final to see us, most of them were not from our usual following.

"Some of our faithful crowd from Kidderminster came along but not as many as in previous rounds, but the venue was full as we played."

He said he thought the group had a good chance of winning the contest but still felt surprised when the winner was announced.

He added: "Two of the bands were industrial metal, which is very different to what we do. We definitely got the best response from the crowd."

The UK finals will take place at The Astoria in London and, if The Amateurs win, they will qualify for the world finals at the Taubertal Festival in Germany from August 10 to 13.

Matthew said they were looking forward to the final as it would be the biggest gig the group has played, adding: "The Astoria is massive so it should be a superb night."

The band's next gig takes place at The Garage in London on Saturday and tickets are still available for a coach leaving Kidderminster at 11am.

For further information log on to the website at www.theamateurs.co.uk