ORGANISERS of the Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival in Colne have decided to honour a legendary figure of the East Lancashire music scene at this year's event.

On the Sunday night of the festival on August 28, the British Stage will become the Cliff Stocker Stage in honour of the lead singer of Slack Alice who died last weekend aged 70.

The surviving members of Slack Alice, the band Cliff originally formed in 1973, will be joined by a host of leading British blues singers and musicians including Rebecca Downes, Connie Lush, Del Bromham, Pete Barton and Wille and the Bandits.

Cliff, from Barnoldswick, played a major role at the festival - twice voted the best blues festival in Europe - selecting bands for the British Stage and roadhouse venues.

Festival spokesman Sue Madigan said: "Cliff was a prominent figure at the festival and to celebrate his life and talents, we will be honouring a man who was a true friend and a great musician.

"He loved to give young up-and-coming talent the opportunity to perform at the festival.

"We were approached by members of Slack Alice about whether we could do anything to pay tribute to Cliff and we were only too happy to create this special evening - it will be a great tribute for a great man."

This year the British stage will be held at the Pendle Hippodrome and admission will be via pledge badge which will costs £5 for all four nights of the festival. There will be no additional charge for the Sunday night.

This year the festival which celebrates its 27th consecutive year, runs from Friday, August 26 to Monday, August 29.

Once again the International Stage will be based at Colne Muni and artists lined up so far include Dave Edmunds, Wilko Johnson, the Royal Southern Brotherhood, Nikki Hill and Sari Schorr.

The full line-up for the British and acoustic stages have yet to be revealed. Tickets are now on sale from the box office on 01282 661234.