A CONCERT was abandoned in dramatic style as police evacuated Oxford Town Hall following a bomb hoax in February 1974.

Oxford Pro Musica played on oblivious to the police search going on beneath the stage after a caller phoned in a bomb warning - and when officers found two plastic bags linked with a red wire, 200 people in the audience and the musicians were ordered to leave while army bomb disposal experts were drafted in.

Streets including St Aldate's were closed as the dramatic event unfolded, but musicians took the threat in their stride.

Pictured here are bass players Peter Lamb and John Walton with conductor Henry Ward taking refuge from the chaos with a well-earned pint in a nearby pub.