A CLASSICAL guitarist from Folly Hill is hoping to set the charts alight after landing a record contract with music giants, EMI.

Ben Pugsley (20) is currently in Spain with the rest of his band The Planets shooting a video to accompany their first single.

Ben hopes to do for the classical guitar what glamourous girl band "Bond" have done for the violin, and give the instrument a more modern and accessible image.

The band's sound has been described as "the S Club 7 of the classical world" and it follows the current trend to put young faces to classical music in a bid to popularise the sound and help it reach a wider market.

The combination of his greatest passions - the classical guitar and Spain - is a dream come true for Ben, whose love of all things Spanish was nurtured at Heath End School, where he studied the language and went on a Spanish exchange visit.

He attributes his musical prowess to his mother who used to play the piano to a high standard and it was on her old guitar that he first learned to play.

Ben's skills were nurtured by guitar teacher Richard Leitch, who introduced him to the reading and playing of classical music, despite Ben's initial aspirations to become a rock star.

Later his talents won him a place at the prestigious Royal College of Music, where he studied a four-year degree course with the world famous guitarist Carlos Bonell.

Over the years Ben has put his talents to good use locally, organising a concert at the Farnham Maltings to raise funds for talented musicians who cannot afford tuition fees and performing concerts to raise money for both the Phyllis Tuckwell and Chase Children's Hospices.