FRIENDS of Wellington Park have defended their decision to axe the town's Silver Band from their programme of events during the summer.

As WWN readers rallied behind the band, chairman of the Friends, Pauline Sturgess, told members of Wellington Town Council on Monday that is was the public who voted for acts taking part in the programme.

She said: "We ask people who come to the performances to tell us whether they enjoyed the event by marking their programme.

"At the end of the concert we take the programmes and assess which the public like best."

As reported in last week's WWN, members of Wellington Silver Band are angry they have been dropped from this year's Proms in the Park season and have organised their own concert.

The Friends of Wellington Park, said the band were simply not good enough amid claims that its music is "dirgeful" and "like something you'd hear at a funeral."

Now the Silver Band has scheduled a park performance on Saturday July 25, right in the middle of the season which sees bands coming to Wellington from all over Somerset.

Mrs Sturgess said: "The Friends do not choose the events. If the public do not like the events we don't put them on. It's the public which decides."

She added: "We thought we had friends in the community. It appears we do not."

See this week's WWN Letters for readers' comments on this story.