BEN Warman would not be beaten - but his drum certainly will be now after the 31-year-old Kidderminster Harriers fanatic collected hundreds of signatures backing his bid to play at Aggborough.

He received a call from club chairman Lionel Newton on Tuesday night to say the club had done a U-turn and he would be allowed to stir up the matchday atmosphere by banging his drum on the terraces.

The Shuttle/Times & News revealed last week that Mr Warman had been told he would not be allowed to take the £39 instrument into the ground - and stadium manager Roger Barlow confirmed bands were banned from the terraces due to fears they would upset other fans.

But after he collected more than 200 petition signatures in the season opener against Scunthorpe on Saturday - including those of manager Jan Molby, players and Mr Newton himself - the club has had a rethink.

Mr Newton said he wanted to see fans come up with as many new ideas as possible to support the team.

"If people don't want to stand next to a drum they can stand in one of the other 3,500 spaces," he added.

Players Adie Smith, Craig Hinton, Lee Ayres, Ian Foster, Ben Davies, Scott Stamps and Brendan Murphy all threw their weight behind Mr Warman's campaign.

"I never expected such an amazing response. Only about 10 of the people I spoke to weren't in favour of the idea," he said.