The founder of the world's most famous festival stopped by for a spectacularly successful evening which will go a long way towards reopening a youth club.

Youngsters has an experience they'll never forget when Glastonbury Festival boss Michael Eavis hosted Charmouth Youth Club’s fundraiser extravaganza last weekend - and even offered them an audition for the big festival.

An evening of music, a talk by Mr Eavis and an auction of experiences raised more than £3,500 on the night, all of which will go towards the reopening of the youth club which was closed as part of the Dorset Council cuts of 2016.

The event was opened by Ruby Dew, a local young singer/songwriter who performed her own songs and a cover of the classic ‘Walk on the Wild Side’. She was accompanied by Felix Thompson on double bass and their performance captivated the audience and Mr Eavis , too, who was very impressed with their set.

Mr Eavis then took to the stage and shared stories of the early days of the festival, the farm and his cows, and more recent Glastonbury highlights even hinting at the headliners still to confirm who will join Paul McCartney for the 50th birthday of the festival in 2020. He took questions from the crowd and addressed all the queries , only sidestepping the issue of who he wouldn’t invite back to perform. ‘I don’t think that’s an issue, I think they’re all dead’, he laughed in typical Somerset humour as dry as the best farmhouse cider.

The 84-year-old then treated the audience to a selection of songs from the set he performed at Glastonbury 2019. Local man and chairman of trustees at Charmouth Youth Club, Pete Wild, is his regular pianist and they were joined by Pyramid stage veteran Richard Brunton on electric guitar and local young drummer Ruben Wild, Richard’s grandson.

Mr Eavis sang songs made famous by Frank Sinatra and Elvis, the classic ‘Send in the Clowns’ and finished by inviting the audience for a singalong version of ‘Goodnight Irene’.

As the auction began, Mr Eavis sat in the crowd and signed books and posed for photographs while Charmouth’s redoubtable Russ Pearce sold the lots supplied by local businesses and residents.

The last live music act of the night was local young band Velveteen Vigilantes, whose lively set was cheered by the crowd. As Mr Eavis left the building, his parting shot was to offer all the young musicians who performed to go to audition for him in the coming months with an opportunity to play at the festival or other events he promotes.

The remaining audience took to the dance floor for the last hour or so as the disco ended the evening.

Mr Wild said: "This was a real night to remember for those present, with performances from local people as young as 14 and famous faces as old as 84, all helping the local community on their mission to reopen their youth club."