THE songwriter behind one of the UK's seminal ska bands is returning to touring in the country this year, with a gig scheduled for Preston.

Dave Wakeling – the songwriter and lead-singer of The Beat - returns this September for a full UK tour, where he will be showcasing new material due for release in 2017.

The singer, songwriter and guitarist behind arguably the biggest 1980’s 2-Tone Band, known in the US as The English Beat, Dave Wakeling is touring the world with an all-star line-up, performing all the hits of The Beat, General Public and a host of new songs.

The English Beat will play an extensive run of UK dates including shows in Liverpool, Newcastle, Cardiff, and London, and Dave’s hometown and the birthplace of many Beat lyrics and classics, Birmingham.

Speaking of the tour, Wakeling said: “I am very excited to be coming back to the UK to play shows and to get to introduce the songs from our upcoming new album.

"We have been in summer training, with shows with ub40, b52's, culture club and train, and the band is in tip top form and ready to rock, steady!”

The band has been busy in the studio working on their first new album in 30 years, due for release in February 2017, titled ‘Here We Go Love’.

With a unique energy, pure melody, passion and politics, The Beat released a number of UK Top 10 singles, ‘Mirror in the Bathroom’, ‘Hands Off She’s Mine’ and ‘Too Nice To Talk To’, before The Beat disbanded in 1983.

The band formed in 1978 in Birmingham and released three full length albums. Their debut 'I Just Can't Stop It' peaked at number three in the UK charts, as did their second record 'Wha'ppen.'

They released one more album - 1982's Special Beat Service - before breaking up.

Rolling Stone magazine once said of The Beat: "The band’s secret weapon was pop, the ear-candy tunes and sharp-fanged lyrics of frontman Dave Wakeling – at his finest, a singer-songwriter as savagely witty as Elvis Costello.”