ONE of Scotland's oldest brass bands WILL be providing the fanfare for the Olympic torch relay today – despite the callous theft of their instruments.
Johnstone Band, formed in 1834, were struggling to get replacements in time for their gig welcoming the torch after thieves broke into their Renfrewshire hall and took a haul of instruments.
Amongst the £70,000 worth of kit stolen from the hall in Campbell Street, Johnstone, were four bass horns, three euphoniums, a tenor horn, three cornets, two baritone horns and three trombones.
The thieves even took four bells from a set of tubular bells.
Band manager Clare Thomas said: "To replace these instruments second-hand is going to cost between £20,000 and £30,000. To replace them with new instruments it's going to be £70,000, so we're obviously gutted.
"The sad thing is they took the instruments but not the cases, which suggests they're thinking of trying to scrap them.
"They're only worth about £2.60 a kilo as scrap."
But the devastated band were thrown a lifeline when Olympic sponsor EDF Energy stepped in to provide replacement instruments.
A spokesman for the company said: "We heard of the band's plight and offered them assistance to ensure that they can play at the Olypmic Torch event in Lochwinnoch."
Clare added: "There was no way we were going to miss the chance to play when the Olympic torch arrived."
ewan.fergus@ eveningtimes.co.uk