Manic Street Preachers' outraged by song

Award-winning rock band the Manic Street Preachers have criticised another group for recording a song claiming that their missing member, Richey Edwards, is dead.

The song, Richey's Dead, has been recorded by Cheltenham rock band Ideal and includes the line "You've got to let him rest in peace." But a spokesman for Manic Street Preachers yesterday said they were shocked at the "tasteless" recording.

Edwards has not been seen since February 1995 when his car was found abandonded near the Severn Bridge. The song claims Edwards threw himself off the Bridge, saying: "You've got to know by now that he's thrown himself over. Richey's been released. You've got to let him rest in peace. Richey is dead, Richey's dead."

Ideal singer Will Hutchinson, 23, who wrote the song, said: "It's being tasteless but that's part of the point. If you don't get the joke, you haven't got a sense of humour."

A Manic Street Preachers spokeswoman said: "It's in really bad taste."Police are no nearer to solving the riddle of the 31-year-old musician's disappearance, despite recent claims of sightings on a beach in Goa.