A HARD rock group founded by the former guitarist of Motorhead will be one of the highlights of this year's Mappfest in Malvern.

Preparations for the two-day festival in June are well under way, with a huge range of acts set to perform on the Link Common.

And among the groups playing are Leader of Down, which was founded by Michael 'Wurzel' Burston, who played guitar for Motorhead from 1984 to 1995. Although Wurzel died in 2011, the band has soldiered on since.

The festival is the work of Malvern man Andy Mapp, who started it with private fund-raising music events at his Bank Street home, before branching out with two festivals in the Re-Con venue in the centre of Malvern.

In 2014, he held the first outdoor Mapp Fest at the Link Common, which was so successful that the following year

it was extended over two days.

This year's event is on Saturday and Sunday, June 17 and 18, and will feature acts from all over the UK on four stages.

Mr Mapp said: "Also we will be joined once again by the Battle of Britain Flight's Lancaster bomber, which will carry out a flyover on the Sunday."

And among the other attractions will be a wide variety of food and drink, children’s entertainers and much more.

All the money raised at the event will go to three local charities; this year, they are Acorns Children's Hospice, St Richards Hospice and Malvern Community Action.

And on Good Friday, April 14, Mapp Fest supporters will be holding a fundraising fancy-dress walk to help launch this year's event.

Last year, Mapp Fest was shortlisted in two categories of the national Event Production Awards: the music

event of the year and the sustainable event of the year, an accolade Mr Mapp described as "a real tribute to the

small team who make the event possible”.