The infamous festival weather failed to show at the Last Days Of Summer, as music fans descended on the county border to see Richard Ashcroft and Supergrass.

The Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft delighted fans at Monday’s event with his only solo performance of the year, which he played as a favour to former Northampton Saints player Ben Cohen, who was involved with the festival at Stowe House as part of his testimonial year.

Old favourites Supergrass and the Fun Lovin’ Criminals were also on the bill, alongside new bands The Rascals and Black Kids. The line-up was completed by the Young Knives, Athlete and Royworld.

Mr Cohen said: “It’s been really good. The turnout is good and I think everybody’s having a really good time and I think we’ve achieved what we wanted at the outset. It’s been difficult to organise but we’ve got some great acts and I think that’s what we wanted to achieve, it’s fantastic.”

Richard Ashcroft’s solo set drew the biggest crowd of the day and The Verve singer played classics including Bittersweet Symphony and Sonnet and a number of his own solo compositions. Headliners Supergrass, now midway through their second decade in the spotlight, played a selection from their back catalogue and a handful of songs from their most recent album Bad Blood.

Appearing on stage before Supergrass were Athlete whose set, which included hits such as Wires, pleased fans. The band said they thought it was the first time they had played outside in the dark. Bassist Carey Willetts said: “You get a different atmosphere at smaller festivals. It’s a good line-up – Supergrass are a good festival band.”