WALTER Trout, The Beast and some Yardbirds are set to provide some real 'animal attraction' at this year's annual rhythm and blues extravaganza.

And a Blues Brother will be on a mission to entertain the thousands who will descend on Colne for the Great British R&B Festival, over the August bank holiday.

Performers have so far been pencilled in for the international stage at The Muni, in Albert Road, from August 22 to 25.

Sixties legend The Yardbirds, the band which gave Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page their first breaks, will headline on Saturday night.

The current line-up, including founder members Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty, and new lead stringbender Ben King, will be supported by Billy Boy Arnold and another veteran act, The Zombies, as well as Swedish rockers Clause Ingstrom and Skyhigh.

Opening up the proceedings on Friday will be Supercharged, and the returning Dr Feelgood, along with Nine Below Zero and top-of-the-bill Eddie and the Hot Rods.

Bank holiday Sunday will belong to Walter Trout, renowned for his work with Canned Heat and the John Mayall Bluesbreakers band. He has been touring with his own band for almost 20 years and will be performing cuts from his latest offering, The Outsider, in Colne.

Appearing on Monday will be world-famous guitar virtuoso Steve Cropper, who appeared in the 1980 Blues Brothers film, with Dan Akroyd and John Belushi, and later starred on three albums put out by the eponymous band. Steve has appeared alongside legends such as Chuck Berry, Chet Atkins and Jimmy Reed, before becoming a mainstay of the famous Stax label.

The Sunday teatime act is Nuno Mindelis, the Beast from Brazil, who has appeared at festivals all over the world and is feted as one of South American's leading blues exponents.

A Great British R&B festival spokesman said: "This year's line-up celebrates the best in British, American, European and Brazilian blues talent."

The line-ups for the acoustic stage, also held in The Muni, and the British stage, scheduled for Colne Leisure Centre, have yet to be finalised.

Once again the festival has a series of 'Roadhouse' venues, including Colne & Nelson Rugby Club, The Crown Hotel, The Queens and The Admiral Lord Rodney, which often feature intimate gigs from festival performers, or local acts.