The Yorkshire Building Society Brass Band has held on to its title of European Brass Band for the third year running - after three of its key players made a desperate dash to Switzerland.

Iwan Williams, Chris Starr and Matthew Kay were due to fly to Montreux last Friday afternoon for the competition, but on arriving at Manchester Airport discovered their flight was cancelled.

The airline's next flight was the following morning, which would have been to late for them to take part. Two were soloists, and without them the band would have had to withdraw from the competition.

But Lufthansa airline stepped in, flew the trio to Dusseldorf, bussed them to Cologne, put them up in a hotel and then flew them to Geneva on Saturday morning. They arrived a minute before the concert started, and were lucky enough to be given an 11am performance slot, giving them time to warm up.

Principal conductor David King said: "Despite the lack of full rehearsal, lack of sleep and the anxiety the three had suffered, they demonstrated true professionalism."