BLACKBURN'S most famous punk band The Stiffs are to play a rare gig in their home town this summer.

Fans will get the chance to see the band in its original line-up - Phil Hendriks, Ian Barnes and John McVittie and Tommy O'Kane - performing at the Hordens on Livesey Branch Road, Blackburn, on Saturday, August 16.

This will be only the band's third appearance in Blackburn in the past seven years having previously sold out a show at King George's Hall and played at the Arts in the Park festival.

The Stiffs were formed in 1976 by schoolmates Phil Hendriks and Ian Barnes. Their single Inside Out/Kids On The Street caught the attention of John Peel who declared it "the greatest record in the entire history of the universe!"

Having signed to the prominent EMI label in 1980, fame seemed just around the corner but for various reasons they never got the breaks they deserved and with the arrival of the New Romantic movement, The Stiffs days were numbered.

Tickets for the show in August go on sale tomorrow.

Only 200 tickets are avilable and demand is sure to be high.

They are available, priced £5, from www.myspace.com/thehordens or from Pete Eastwood on 0786 6545 964 or by emailing pedro555@btinternet.com.