Organisers of a guitar festival say The Rolling Stones guitarist, Keith Richards, is “chuffed to bits” that they will pay tribute to 50 years of the band’s Jumpin’ Jack Flash.

Guitars on the Beach (GOTB) will return to Lyme Regis on Saturday with the self-proclaimed ‘greatest band on the sand’ - which has in some years numbered more than 2,000 guitarists - to perform The Rolling Stones hit.

Organisers were contacted by a Stones spokesperson, who said “Keith is chuffed to bits” that the song, inspired by his gardener Jack Dyer, will be performed.

Hundreds of guitarists of all ages and abilities are expected to take part in the annual mass play-along event, which in 2013 set the UK record for the largest guitar band playing simultaneously when 2,267 guitarists performed together.

A spokesperson for GOTB said: “It’s 50 years since Jumpin’ Jack Flash became the highlight of the Stone’s free gig in Hyde Park in the summer of ’69 and it’s been part of every Stones gig ever since, so we are celebrating that.

“Every year GOTB picks songs with simple riffs that our band on the sand finds easy to play and this year we’ve chosen the greatest rock and roll riff in the world.”

Over the years, the sand band has asked for more than one song to play, so this year organisers are giving them a 14-song set, which includes Steve Harley’s ‘Come Up And See Me’, Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’, ‘Born To Be Wild’ by Steppenwolf and Joe Walsh’s ‘Life’s Been Good’.

The spoksesperson added: “Our guitarists can dip in and out, playing along as they like. They can play the whole set or just one or two songs. There’s no rules, just a fun event.

“We have noted that Keith is not playing on the day, as the Stones’ No Filter tour doesn’t start until June 21 in Chicago, so if he would like to pop down and lead us on probably his greatest-ever song, we would be very pleased to see him.”

Besides promoting Plastic Free Lyme Regis, Turn Lyme Green and Extinction Rebellion Bridport, this year’s GOTB is also promoting the cocktail, with sponsor SWiM on the seafront creating GOTB ‘rocktail’ for the occasion.

Organisers of the event are also opening it up to all instruments this year.

“Although GOTB is aimed at encouraging people of all ages to learn to play the guitar or to learn to play it better, if you haven’t got a guitar then come along and bang a tambourine or join in on a violin or whatever,” said the spokesperson. “One chap we know in London is aiming to bring his bagpipes.”

“Another of our sponsors, Andertons Music Company, is kindly donating a very special prize - a guitar of which there is only one in the world - along with 10 acoustic guitars which will be provided to play on the day for guitarists who forget to bring their instrument.”

For more details and chord sheets, visit guitarsonthebeach.com