When wanna-be rock drummer Jamie Lofthouse asked to borrow the family garage for band practise, it's just as well his request didn't fall on deaf ears.

Dad Tony set about turning part of the garage at Mount Grove, Eccleshill, into a purpose-built studio and even made sure it was sound-proofed to keep the neighbours happy.

Now Terry's handiwork has paid off and 15-year-old son Jamie and his schoolboy band, Somethin's Missin, have come top of the pops at West Yorkshire's Battle of the Bands challenge.

The band, which includes bass player Christopher Robbins and guitarist and singer Craig Kaye, both 15 and both from Eccleshill, hit it off when they met up at Thackley's Immanuel College.

Somethin's Missin picked up prizes worth around £1,400 from the Battle of the Band contest staged at Halifax's Tramshed 2000 venue, beating 32 other rivals.

A professional photo-shoot, lighting equipment, guitars and a new drum kit for Jamie were just some of their lucky winnings.

Jamie's mum Jane joked: "We're going to make room in the attic for his old drum kit, it might be worth a lot of money one day if they make it big."

And Jamie said: "Winning was well good, we couldn't believe it. We're hoping this is going to get us noticed big-time."

The band, which meets up at Jamie's garage three times a week, is already playing at gigs in pubs around Bradford but now they hope to be heard further afield.

"We've done a demo-tape and we're getting ready to send it off. We're hoping the Battle of the Bands title will make us stand out a bit more," said Jamie who bought his first set of drums with money from his 13th birthday.

Even though GCSEs are looming this summer, the boys are busy penning new lyrics for tracks they hope will rock music managers on the look out for the next generation of chart-toppers.

Jamie added: "Our heroes are Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Green Day but we want to rock in our own right."

Meanwhile, former Menston schoolboys Kaiser Chiefs are at number six in the album charts with their debut album Employment.

The Indie band sold 75,000 copies of the album in its first week and appeared on Top of the Pops.

They are due to return from a Stateside tour soon to embark on a month-long tour of the UK.

Former Bradford Girl's Grammar School pupil Verbalicious's single debut, 'Don't Play Nice', is at 35 in the charts this week, while Girls Aloud, featuring Bradford-born Kimberly Walsh is at 23 with Wake Me Up.

Last year Danny and Richard McNamara from Wyke and their band Embrace sold more than half-a-million copies of the album Out of Nothing, and Bradford-born Bob Hardy and his band Franz Ferdinand sold over a million copies of their debut album.