Will Young to play VE Day concert

Natasha Kaplinsky and Eamonn Holmes will host the concert

Will Young, Kate Melua and Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston are to take part in a televised concert to mark the 60th anniversary of VE Day.

Up to 15,000 people will gather in London's Trafalgar Square for the free open event called A Party to Remember.

The concert, on 8 May, will be hosted by BBC presenter Natasha Kaplinsky and GMTV host Eamonn Holmes.

Welsh opera star Katherine Jenkins and Heather Mills McCartney have also announced their involvement.

More artists are expected to be announced as the concert approaches with a mix of contemporary and classic wartime music promised.

There will also be footage of the original Trafalgar Square VE Day celebrations from 8 May 1945.

'Important moment'

At the concert launch, Holmes said: "So many people lived through the bombardment of London, never mind the second world war itself.

"Many of these people are still alive today and are in their eighties or nineties. It's terrible if we forget and if we don't commemorate.

"It will be an important moment where we will be able to imagine what it must have been like 60 years ago."

The concert is being organised by the Royal British Legion, the BBC and London mayor Ken Livingstone. It will be shown live on giant screens in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, and Hull.

Free tickets for the event, which were available by telephone, were all snapped up in two hours.