Richard Batson Born-again boyband Boyzone are heading to Norfolk this summer as a stately date is added to their comeback tour.

Richard Batson

Born-again boyband Boyzone are heading to Norfolk this summer as a stately date is added to their comeback tour.

The five-strong singing group had six number one hits, and 16 consecutive top five singles between 1994 and their split in 2000.

After re-forming for last year's Children in Need they have launched a major tour, which now includes Blickling Hall in July.

Promoter David Heartfield said: “They are one of the most successful boy bands ever.

“I have been talking to them since last October when I heard they were re-forming. They have added three or four stately homes to a tour which saw 100,000 tickets sell in the first hour.”

He was sure that following a sell out concert by Westlife two years ago, Boyzone at Blicking would also sell out quickly when tickets went on sale tomorrow.

The concert is on Sunday July 20, the day after an 11-act party style concert at the lakeside venue, which is again hoping to run two full weekends of outdoor summer music events, the rest of which will be announced shortly.

The revival of Take That and Spice Girls showed there was a public appetite for pop nostalgia, said Mr Heartfield.

All five original members are on the tour, including Ronan Keating, who will be making a return to the Norfolk National Trust park having wowed the crowds there back in 2005 - when a wet day miraculously cleared up as he took the stage.

He will be joined by Stephen Gateley, Shane Lynch, Mikey Graham, and Keith Duffy - a line up which was formed in 1993 by X Factor judge Louis Walsh.

They hit the charts with a cover of the Osmonds Love Me For a Reason in November 1994, and had their first number one two years later with Words.

Their other chart toppers were A Different Beat, All That I Need, No Matter What, When The Going Gets Tough and You Needed Me, before they split to pursue solo careers in 2000.

Their comeback kicked off as part of the BBC Children in Need telethon last November, and was followed by the announcement of a UK tour, which includes major venues such as Wembley and the O2 dome in London.

t Tickets costing £37.50, plus a booking fee, are available from 9am Friday February 8, through EDP offices at Millennium Plain and Prospect House in Norwich (01603 772175 or 01603 693890) or at branches in Cromer, Fakenham, Yarmouth, and Lowestoft. You can order your tickets online on www.edp24.co.uk/shop.

Other outlets are the Blickling box office on 0844 800 4308 or www.nationaltrust.org.uk/events, and the 24-hour hotline 0871 424 4444, or www.ticketline.co.uk.