CHART-topping pop sensation JLS are to play a massive open-air concert in Oxford’s South Park.

The boy band, who shot to fame on the TV talent show The X Factor, will strut their stuff to an estimated 20,000 people on Sunday, August 19.

Band members Aston Merrygold, Oritsé Williams, Jonathan Benjamin ‘JB’ Gill and Marvin Humes, pictured below, play the park, on the edge of the city centre, as the first show on a six-date outdoor summer tour.

It follows the launch of their third album Jukebox, and comes fresh off the back of their hit Sport Relief single Proud.

They will be joined by at least one big-name support act which has yet to be announced.

The band told the Oxford Mail they can’t wait to play the new material to fans in the city.

“We’re still a young band with a lot to prove,” said Marvin.

“We had to prove ourselves every week on The X Factor, then we had to prove we were proper recording artists with our first album. Now we want to prove that wasn’t just a fluke, and that we’re here to stay.”

Tour spokesman Dion Clements said “JLS are, without doubt, one of the biggest bands in music today, so adding these six large-scale summer concerts to their schedules, particularly at venues like South Park, which enable fans to see them close to home, is just fantastic news.

“We wanted to put the shows on in places where fans wouldn’t normally get a chance to see the band.

“The atmosphere in the park will be amazing, with good people and great music.

“JLS will be performing an all-new show, and Oxford will be the first to see it.

“These guys have an all-round appeal that draws everyone to them.

“They are the cool young guys who the lads all want to be, and the ladies want to be with.

“Their music mixes soaring ballads with an urban pop vibe, which appeals to people who wouldn’t normally go to see a boyband.”

South Park was most famously used by Oxford band Radiohead for their homecoming show in 2001, and for concerts linked to the Cowley Road Carnival including last year’s Fiesta in the Park headlined by hip-hop star Roots Manuva.

Divinity Road resident Henrietta Gill welcomed the prospect of JLS playing in her local park.

She said: “We should be sharing our good fortune to live in such a nice area and the park is a community asset.

“I am all for things that bring people together and let us celebrate outdoors.

“The city council put in quite stringent regulations for noise so I am not worried about that.”

Tickets for the show have gone on sale today, priced £33.50.

To book, or for more information, visit www.nationalboxoffice.co.uk or call 0844 888 9991.

See more music news in The Guide in today’s Oxford Mail.