Legendary art rockers 10cc are to play a farmer's field in Stockbury near Sittingbourne this summer.

The band which had number ones with I'm Not In Love, Dreadlock Holiday and Rubber Bullets has agreed to play the fledgling Chickenstock music festival in July.

It's a huge coup for the organisers of one of Kent's quirkiest festivals.

Beth Taylor admitted: "It was one of those really lucky moments. We saw them at the Cropready Festival and they were fantastic. We were so blown away by them that I took down the details of their tour manager.

"I emailed him out of the blue on the off chance to see if they'd like to play Chickenfest and to all our surprises they have said yes."

So will the band be able to fit on the stage?

Beth said: "They normally specify a 12m stage. Ours is 10m - but they are fine with it. They are such a nice, old-school band."

The group, which now only boasts one original member in the shape of Graham Gouldman, has just announced a new Greatest Hits tour for the UK. It kicks off in Liverpool on March 25 and will take in Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Dartford, Glasgow, Manchester, Margate, Nottingham, Southend, York and the London Palladium.

Gouldman said: “It’s difficult to express just how much we have missed playing live and how much we want to be back playing concerts."

The current line-up features Gouldman on bass, guitar and vocals, Rick Fenn on lead guitar, bass and vocals), Paul Burgess on drums and percussion, Keith Hayman on keyboards, guitars, bass and vocals and Iain Hornal on vocals, percussion, guitar and keyboards.

Both Fenn and Burgess have been with the band since the 1970s. Hayman first joined in 2006. Hornal is the latest addition, joining in 2018.

The band originally formed in Stockport in 1972 with Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. They had written and recorded together since 1968. Every member was a multi-instrumentalist, singer, writer and producer.

Most of the group's records, which include Donna, Art For Art’s Sake, Good Morning Judge, The Things We Do For Love, I’m Mandy Fly Me, Life Is A Minestrone and The Wall Street Shuffle, were recorded at their own Strawberry Studios (North) in Stockport and Strawberry Studios (South) in Dorking. 10cc has sold more than 15 million albums in the UK and 30 million worldwide.

Gouldman said: “Year on year we get busier and busier. It’s great, we love touring and playing together and we get on really well. The audiences these days are very gratifying. We get the people you would expect, who grew up with 10cc, but we also get young kids who know the songs. too.”

Beth said: "It's a huge coup for us. Once you get to the level where bands of this calibre agree to play it's not such a struggle to attract more. We are already being approached by others but we don't want to grow too fast. We are taking things steady."

Last year the festival, which began as a private birthday party bash in a back garden, was one of the first to go ahead after a Covid lockdown but was limited to half capacity. This will be its fourth year - 2020 was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The four-day festival will feature 22 acts including Skinny Lister, Tankus Henge, Gentlemen of Few, Sally Ironmonger and Brian Carter and Bamboozle. Other headline acts are still to be announced.

Tickets are £89 and limited to 3,000 (under-16s go free with an adult) from here. There is also camping.