£20,000 of gear stolen from Shropshire's Raymond Froggatt Band

Singer-songwriter Froggatt is due to appear at Birmingham Town Hall on Thursday, and band manager Lynn Hartley-Cain said the thieves had taken all the band's equipment including amplifiers, a mixing desk and guitar pedals.

Merchandise, including CDs and DVDs were also stolen in the raid.

She said the band would now be forced to borrow or hire equipment to ensure that Thursday's concert still goes ahead.

The equipment was stolen from the band's trailer between 2pm on Sunday and 8am yesterday.

The trailer was parked at the side of a house in Woodhouse Lane in Horsehay, Telford.

Mrs Hartley-Cain said it was the second attempt on the band's trailer in the space of a few weeks.

"Somebody tried to steal the trailer a couple of weeks ago, but it was all locked up so they couldn't do it," she said. "We decided to move it after that."

Mrs Hartley-Cain, who is married to guitarist 'H' Hartley-Cain, said her husband's collection of guitar pedals was also stolen in the raid.

"He's heartbroken," she said. "Many of his pedals are very rare, and they can't be replaced.

"We've got a huge show on in Birmingham, and it's going to have a big impact, but the show will definitely go ahead.

"We're lucky, we've got some friends who have offered to lend us some equipment."

The concert had been organised to mark Froggatt's 73rd birthday, which was last month.

Anybody with information about the theft should contact police.

'H' Hartley-Cain has been playing with Froggatt, who also lives in Telford, since the early 1960s.

The Raymond Froggatt Band, initially known as the Buccaneers and later Monopoly, never enjoyed major chart success, although many of Froggatt's songs were hits for other performers, including The Red Balloon which was a 1968 hit for The Dave Clark Five, and Big Ship, which made No. 8 for Cliff Richard.