Pat and Clive's barnstorming effort

Bright lights, gleaming instruments and an audience transfixed by every note - it could be a concert like any other for the 30-strong band of the Mercian Regiment.

But this show, attended by more than 250 people from as far afield as Yorkshire, was actually held in a sprawling barn in South Staffordshire.

The fundraising concert was the branchild of Clive and Pat Boucher, who have collected around £7,000 for the Mercians in the past two years. It was the second show in the barn at the couple's three-acre small holding in Penstone Lane, Lower Penn.

A capacity crowd, including South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson, packed into the massive 23ft tall, 100 ft long building late last month for the Last Night of The Proms event. The barn was revamped to look the part, including a stage, lights and decorations, and the bandmaster, Warrant Officer Ivor Evans, had even conducted at the Royal Albert Hall.

Retired builder Mr Boucher, aged 71, said: "Some people said that the performance was as good as the real Last Night of The Proms. We could have sold all the tickets twice but wanted to keep things to manageable proportions. "We started organising the event at Christmas and, with help from our daughter Michelle and her husband, did not stop until the band struck up.

"But all the effort was well worthwhile. Everything went like clockwork. It was a perfect evening."

The event raised £2,120. It was added to the £1,545 already collected at their first Proms in the Barn event last year and £2,500 made by a barn dance. The fundraising started with £324 after Mr Boucher told pals celebrating his 70th birthday to give cash for charity rather than buy presents.

He decided to give it to the Army and took the cheque to the nearest base he could find at Fallings Park, which is the headquarters of the 4th Battalion of the Mercian Regiment. Mr Boucher, who handed over the latest cheque to the same place last Friday, said: "I lost a leg on my 21st birthday and knew lads of that age were returning from Afghanistan with similar disabilities and worse. I realised the physical and emotional problems they were facing."

Captain Simon Cupples, Mercian Regiment Adjutant, and holder of the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for bravery during a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan in 2007, said: "The amount of money raised by Clive and Patricia in the past year is an unbelievable amount for a couple who effectively organise events in their back garden."