A weekly newspaper has come to the rescue of a brass band which was hit by a double blow to its finances.

The Barnsley Chronicle has stepped in to sponsor the Barnsley Building Society Band and the name of the band will be changed to reflect its new support.

Musicians in the band came second in a competition in Pontin’s in October but the group failed to receive the £1,350 prize money when the company went into administration days later.

And to add to the band’s woes, the Yorkshire Building Society decided to end its 21-year sponsorship deal with them.

Now the independently-owned newspaper has come forward to keep the band going, which will now be known as The Barnsley Chronicle Band.

Editor Bob Cockroft said: “Brass music is at the heart of the town and in many ways symbolic of it. Barnsley is having a tough time all round and it seemed important to us to help keep this fine band going.

“We were sad to hear of its problems so we decided to step in.”

Bob is a composer in his spare time and the sponsorship deal is also good news for Chronicle reporter Mike Cotton – an accomplished cornet player who occasionally plays with the band.

The band’s chairman Pete Webster, who is a trombone player, said he was ‘delighted’ with the news.

He said: “Last week really was a double blow for us, finding out we were unlikely to receive our prize money, and at the same time losing our sponsorship. But this is certainly much better news.”