A MAJOR concert at York Barbican tomorrow night will raise thousands of pounds for victims of the Boxing Day floods.

More than 600 tickets have already been sold for the Hold Back The River concert and people can still pay on the door, says organiser Graham Bradbury.

He said the Barbican had agreed to host the event free of charge, apart from some staffing costs, and all the acts were performing for free, and so almost the entire proceeds would go to the York Flood Disaster Fund. With tickets costing £10 and £8 for concessions, the fund is set to receive several thousand pounds.

The show, hosted by BBC Radio York presenters Jonathan Cowap and Adam Tomlinson, will be opened at 7pm by Pick Me Up Theatre musical director Adam Tomlinson with the cast from last month’s production of the musical Les Miserables, followed by York singer and guitarist Dan Webster, the York Civic Youth Choir, Archies Boys Aloud and the ukulele skills of The Grand Old Uke Of York.

Following the interval, the Shepherd Group Concert Brass Band will perform, followed by The Steve Cassidy Band, humorous singer Ish Herd and friends, and finally 'people’s soprano' Rebecca Newman.