ON a wet and muddy Saturday in May thousands of people boogied in a village field to raise money for Rock Against Cancer.

On Monday their efforts to beat the weather were shown to have paid off when £40,000 was presented to charities at the Kings Arms in All Cannings, near Devizes.

This means that the five Concert At The Kings have together raised £152,500.

Cheques for £12,500 were presented to Macmillan Cancer Support and Above & Beyond and £7,500 went to Hope for Tomorrow. Another £7,500 went to All Cannings Parish Council to support village good causes.

Concert founders John Callis, better known on the circuit as Grubby, Sweet guitarist Andy Scott and Kings Arms landlord Richard Baulu were delighted with the amount raised.

Mr Baulu said: "Thank you to all who have supported us and we are pleased to announce that Rock against Cancer will be happening again on Saturday 20 May 2017."

Back on May 21 nearly 5,000 people were in All Cannings to see rock chick Suzi Quatro,10CC the SAS band, Big Country and Marmalade play their hearts out.

The cancer charities that have benefitted have spoken of the difference the money raised makes to their work.

Claire Cosgrove, head of communications and Fundraising at Hope for Tomorrow, said: "This incredible event has contributed to keeping the wheels turning on our Wiltshire Mobile Chemotherapy Units and bringing cancer treatment closer to home for patients across Wiltshire and we are grateful to everyone involved for their support."

Cressida Slater, fundraising manager for Above & Beyond, said: "Thanks to the fantastic support of everyone involved with Rock against Cancer last year, we’ve been able to fund two incredible new research projects into prostate cancer treatments as well as £40,000 towards our Golden Gift Appeal.

Steven Goodrick, Fundraising Manager Wiltshire for Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “We are indebted to the organisers of Rock against Cancer for their continued support of Macmillan.

"This fantastic event has contributed hugely to the support we have been able to offer in our community and we are indeed very grateful.

"Every day around 10 people in Wiltshire receive a cancer diagnosis and the numbers are rising. We have made significant investments in Wiltshire to improve cancer care and support to people living with and beyond cancer, with the support of Concert at the Kings we can reach many more.”