Flaming June may seem like an age away, but preparations are being made for a popular midsummer music festival.

Chesil Rocks is a family-friendly event of music, comedy and other entertainment hosted by Tim and Hilary Warren at their home at Langton Herring overlooking the Jurassic Coast.

It has established itself as the leading fundraiser for Samaritans of Dorset, raising approximately a quarter of the organisation's annual budget each year.

Almost £9,500 was raised from this year's event.

The Warrens say the 2018 Chesil Rocks was 'the best yet' in terms of people attending, atmosphere and enjoyment, as well as the money raised for Samaritans.

Suicide remains the leading cause of death in men aged under 50 and also features disproportionately amongst postnatal women, young people in general and in certain occupations such as farming.

Hilary Warren said: “Samaritans in Dorset gets no government funding and the volunteers spend much of their time fundraising – to keep their Weymouth-based centre open – and anything we can do to assist financially enables them to spend more time doing what they do best."

The main Chesil Rocks festival day for 2019 will be on Saturday, June 22 from 11am to 11pm. A first for next year, there will also be an evening of classical music on the evening before.

With festival ticket prices set to go up next year, a special offer is being run which the Warrens say will make an ideal Christmas gift.

They have made 100 tickets available for the main festival day at the 2018 price of £17.50.

More than half of these have already been sold so people should act fast if they want a cheaper ticket – visit the website at chesilrocks.com

For the event next year, organisers are looking for interesting stalls and volunteers before and after the event and particularly on the day to help with car parking, staffing stalls and doing other tasks in the arena. In return for a few hours work, helpers will be offered a free ticket to the event. Anyone interested in having a stall or helping, as well as anyone interested in supporting Chesil Rocks through sponsorship, should email organisers at chesilrocks@gmail.com