The unsuccessful pop-punk past of Cheam's most famous brothers Jeremy and Tim Vine has been revealed.

The BBC presenter, his comedian brother and their friend Simon Williams formed The Flared Generation in the early 80’s which was described as "the most unfashionable punk band in the country" by Smash Hits magazine.

In an interview with the Sutton Guardian, Jeremy Vine, 47, spoke about the band which rocked Cheam in the early 80s and an explosive performance at the Secombe Theatre.

The father-of-two said: "We wanted to be like The Jam, The Fall or The Clash and we just couldn’t even get booked in pubs or anything.

"So we had a meeting and we decided what we’ve got to do is reverse it - so instead of the coolest band we need to become the least cool band in the world.

"Cheam had a punk band that was so square and so stupid they were wearing flared trousers.

"That was completely and utterly in breach of all the rules of fashion.

"My brother’s very talented with music so he wrote songs like a song called Sensible Shoes and a song called University Sweatshirts and one called Flared Revolution.

"We found suddenly we got incredible amounts of coverage because it was something that wasn’t happening anywhere else.

"The lesson of The Flared Generation was that because it was unusual - it was in the news -if we had been like everybody else we wouldn’t have got anywhere."

At a packed out performance at the Secombe Theatre the experimental teenagers decided that Mr Williams would slide on to the stage on a skateboard with bangers tied to it. However, he shot across the stage and straight out the other side.

There was a big bang offstage and one of the lenses in Mr Williams’ sunglasses was blown out.

The rock and roll lifestyle was not meant to be and Mr Vine became a reporter for the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Before long he became the BBC’s political and Africa correspondent and a Newsnight presenter in 1999.

He has since presented Panorama and Points of View on BBC1, the quiz show Eggheads on BBC 2 and now holds the lunchtime slot on BBC Radio 2.

Last week, he received an honorary degree from Durham University and in mid June he published his memoirs of 25 years at the BBC.

Mr Vine’s new book, It's All News to Me, is available at book shops now and online. To order a copy visit: amazon.co.uk/Its-All-News-Jeremy-Vine/dp/1849837767.