THE Searchers return to Wirral next month for the first of two shows as part of their current tour.

The band - whose distinctive jangling sound of twelve string guitar and the rich harmonies earned them a well-deserved place in the music history - are at the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton on September 23 and Gladstone Theatre in Port Sunlight on December 21.

Formed in 1962, their many hits included Sweets For My Sweet, Sugar & Spice and Needles & Pins.

From their early beginnings in the late fifties as a skiffle group formed by a group of friends, the band has gone onto influence some of the world’s biggest names including The Byrds, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen.

The current line-up features John McNally and frontman Frank Allen, who joined the band in 1964.

Also in the band is Spencer James, who was recruited in 1985 and drummer Scott Ottaway, who joined in 2010.

On the current tour, Frank Allen told the Globe: "We've never really stopped touring. It's a week-by-week thing these days and it’s all evening gigs.

"The audiences range from the young to the really old, and it’s nice to see new fans coming along."

Frank said the shows are a fairly comprehensive of the band’s history, adding: "We try to cram a lot into the show, which is just over two hours, playing the hits and rarities and giving the audience a potted history."

When The Beatles took the nation, and finally the world, by storm in the early 1960s the way was suddenly open for every other guitar-twanging group to grab their chance.

Frank said: "We’ve been doing this for 51 years, and it's great that audiences still want to see us.

"After the hits stopped, we wanted to keep the band going and there were times when we felt it would die off.

"We kept it going in that period and, despite the impact of The Beatles. If you had success then, the future was yours.

"The last 20 or 30 years have been very rewarding for us, the years when the hit records stopped and we were untouched as far as the DJs were concerned.

"That period was a university education for us, in that we taught ourselves stage craft, which bands these days have got in spades these days.

"We learnt how to perform better on stage and to talk to the audience and it’s helped a lot, particularly when we tour."

Over the last 20 years the band has toured the world.

Among their appearances have been two sell-out shows at Wembley Stadium with Sir Cliff Richard as guest.

At a time when you might think life should be taken perhaps a more leisurely pace the band are busier than ever and enjoying a gruelling work rate that others would find daunting. There are no plans to stop.

Asked whether there were any plans for a new album, Frank admitted it was unlikely.

He said: "What every band has got to accept is that they become a nostalgia act.

"The Stones are still touring but, essentially, they are a nostalgia act.

“If we got the chance to get back in the studio it would be great. But it seems an unlikely prospect."

Tickets for the Floral Pavilion show are from the box office on 666 0000 or www.floralpavilion.com

Tickets for their Gladstone Theatre concert are from 643 8757 or www.gladstonetheatre.org.uk

Both shows start at 7.30pm.