BRASS banders performing at The Groves in Chester have long been concerned about hitting a bum note by falling through the rotting bandstand floor.

But not for much longer after Cheshire West and Chester Council applied to replace the floor which it acknowledges is considered unsafe and unfit for purpose.

A report says the floor structure is in poor condition with the timber joists and boards suffering from decay.

Les Platt, from Tarporley, who plays tuba in the City of Chester Band, had called for urgent repairs to be carried out after his chair leg went through a hole in the floor in September 2010.

Les, who has been playing on the stage for more than 20 years, said: “I had been on the bandstand helping another band, Llay, and in manoeuvring my chair to get a sight-line of the conductor, a leg of my chair fell through the hole.

“As I was holding a tuba at the time I almost fell off the chair and could have caused damage to the instrument and myself – tubas are expensive to repair.”

Les, who says the floor had been patched due to problems over recent years, believes the hole was repaired within a fortnight.

He welcomed the full-scale refurbishment. “They must have realised when they examined it that it was pretty rotten,” he added.

Les, who believes the Victorian bandstand should be a treasured part of Chester’s cultural heritage, added: “It’s a lovely bandstand really, if you’ve got a nice day there’s nowhere nicer.”

The bandstand is a grade II-listed structure built circa 1880. It was paid for by Charles Brown of the department store Browns of Chester.