The Beautiful South To Reform

The pop group, who formed in 1989 before splitting in 2007, are relaunching as The New Beautiful South - but founding member Paul Heaton, guitarist David Rotheray and bassist Sean Welch won't be rejoining the line-up.

The new formation of the band consists of singers David Hemingway and Alison Wheeler, and drummer David Stead - who are excited at the prospect of their comeback.

Stead says, "We never really split up - all that happened was Paul made the decision to leave. But Dave, Alison and I wanted to continue. We've been twiddling our thumbs for a while, but this is what we do best.

"There are still an awful lot of people out there who want to hear our music and we still want to play it. We're going to be playing all our greatest hits and the old favourites along with a few new songs."

The group are set to play their first gig in Hull, England on 29 March (09).