Matthew SparkesA young Norfolk band is one step away from playing live at the O2 in London after making it to the regional finals of a national talent competition.Rock four-piece Walkway has made it to the penultimate round in the Live and Unsigned talent competition and will now play at the Towngate Theatre in Basildon on May 22.Matthew Sparkes

A young Norfolk band is one step away from playing live at the O2 in London after making it to the regional finals of a national talent competition.

Rock four-piece Walkway has made it to the penultimate round in the Live and Unsigned talent competition and will now play at the Towngate Theatre in Basildon on May 22.

To get to this stage the band has had to pass through two audition events held in Ipswich, and if successful for a third time they will play at the grand final concert in London on July 10.

The band, whose members all live near Diss, is busily arranging mini buses to take fans from Norfolk to Basildon to provide support.

Guitarist and lead singer Chris Ready, 18, is studying an Access to Music course on King Street in Norwich, along with his brother James, 16, who both live in Redgrave.

'We do that three days a week and the band is everything else,' he said.

'We all want to be the next big group. It's just everything we live for.'

'We thought this year we'd just give it a try. The first round went really well, we're just really ready for Basildon.'

The brothers were inspired to form a band by their father Michael Ready, who founded his own band, Backstreet, 30 years ago.

The line-up is completed by Bass guitarist Alex Rosedale from Redgrave, 19, and drummer Jack Stevens from Stradbroke, 16.

The winning bands in the grand final will be chosen in rock, urban, pop and indie categories, and prizes include the chance to play at the Gosport Waterfront Festival and the Tour Music Fest in Italy.

Regional finalists will also get the chance to take professional classes in song writing, the music business, and guitar, bass and vocal skills.

The overall winner will get a management and recording contract with Future Music Management, with an investment of up to �30, 000 to release a single.

The band already have dozens of UK dates arranged in the UK and will also travel to Amsterdam this summer to play a concert at The Cave.

For more information on Walkway and tour dates visit www.officialwalkway.com