SCOTTISH folk-rocker duo The Proclaimers are coming to Ipswich as part of their nationwide tour later this year, it emerged today.

SCOTTISH folk-rocker duo The Proclaimers are coming to Ipswich as part of their nationwide tour later this year, it emerged today.

The duo - who have remade their hit (I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles for Comic Relief - will be playing at the Ipswich Regent on October 8.

Their career really took off in the 1980s with the release of the anthem “Letter From America” and has seen a resurgence over recent years as they have become festival favourites.

Craig and Charlie Reid are twins who have been singing together since they were toddlers and became The Proclaimers in 1983.

Their tuneful, thought-provoking songs caught the public attention as an antidote to the manufactured pop of the late 1980s and their first hit was followed up by a string of top-ten singles and two chart albums.

During the 1990s the twins continued touring and released two more albums - but other campaigns and their family lives meant they were no longer so clearly in the spotlight for their music.

Strong supporters of Scottish independence, many of their songs - including their breakthrough single - have a strong political message.

And they are unashamedly Scottish, they make no attempt to hide their accents unlike some bands from the north of the border.

One of the major campaigns they were involved in during the early 1990s was saving their favourite football club, Hibernian, from being taken over by Edinburgh rivals Hearts.

Over the last few years the duo have enjoyed a great revival. They kicked off the Live8 concert at Murrayfield Stadium in 2005 and later that year were one of the most popular bands at the V Festival in Chelmsford and Staffordshire.

Their Greatest Hits album was a success, and they have spent the last year making a new album.

They are touring Scotland during the spring, and begin their UK Tour in early October.

Tickets for the concert at the Regent, costing £22.50 each, go on sale on Friday week, March 30.

The Proclaimers facts:

When they performed “Letter from America” on the Channel 4 programme The Tube in 1987, they were not signed to any record label. Within a month they were signed to Chrysalis and their first album “This is the Story” was recorded nine days later. It was in the shops six weeks later.

The twins were born in Edinburgh and spent their childhood there, in Auchtermuchty in Fife . . . and in Cornwall!

Their music has featured in the films Benny & Joon , Dumb and Dumber, and Shrek.

The Comic Relief version of (I'm Gonna Be) 500 miles featuring Peter Kay and Matt Lucas (as Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin) went on sale yesterday.

Their music is popular throughout the universe - Dr Who (David Tennant) is a great fan.