ONE of the country's first drive-in concerts was a huge success and another sold-out gig is taking place later this week.

For the first time since lockdown, live music returned to Southampton on Friday June 19, as hundreds of people rocked up to a live, socially distanced gig from the comfort of their cars at the Royal Victoria Country Park.

Around 80 cars filled with music fanatics watched as Sean McGowan headlined the unique event, supported by "Bash" and "Me and the Moon".

Peter Nicholson, founder of Sound Level - the Southampton-based company who launched the event - was delighted with how well the event went, and is looking for the next gig on Friday July 3.

He said: "The gig went superbly, everything went 100% according to plan and we didn't get one single bit of negative feedback. It was amazing, it felt like such an intimate event.

"It was so heart warming seeing everyone have fun because it was such hard work to organise and set everything up. The social distancing rules worked really well with everyone either standing to the left of their car, or sitting on top of them, and everyone who attended was very respectful of the venue, there wasn't a single piece of litter left on site."

The upcoming gig on Friday July 3 will see another 110 cars full of music lovers rock up to the same venue to watch south coast Indie band Wild Front perform, with supporting artists Mauvey and Grace Savage.

While this event is sold out, it has been confirmed that yet another drive-in concert will be taking place later this month on Friday July 17, with the line-up set to be announced shortly.

Tickets cost £40 per car, with a maximum of five people per car, and all social distancing measures must be followed.