A NEW rehearsal facility for Test Valley Brass has been officially opened at the new John Hanson Community School on Floral Way.

The borough's deputy mayor, Cllr Pat West, cut the ribbon in front of representatives from Hampshire County Council, Test Valley Borough Council, the school's governing body and the band's sponsors, Mitutoyo (UK) Ltd.

The new facilities include a large room for full band rehearsal, as well as smaller rooms for individual and group tuition, a large storage area for instruments and a music library.

The cost of the room - about £70,000 - is being met by Mitutoyo sponsorship money, council grants and members' fundraising efforts.

With more than 80 players in three separate bands already, Test Valley Brass will now be able to extend its membership, particularly with young people like seven-year-old Isobel Rutherford, their youngest learner, who wants to play a brass instrument.

The new band room and the musicianship development scheme, recently launched by the Test Valley Brass Youth Band, is one way of achieving this aim.

Steve Evatt, headteacher at John Hanson, said: "Test Valley Brass now has the facilities it deserves and the school is delighted that the partnership has finally come to fruition after years of planning."