HE has plied his trade in both local government and journalism as chief reporter of the Hampshire Chronicle.

Now, Warwick Payne, deputy group leader of Southampton City Council, has released a novel set in Southampton called No Truth Told Here.

A rock group of the same name starts the year playing local pubs, but within months, is Britain’s most talked-about band – for all the wrong reasons.

It begins when a gig accidentally descends into chaos. The group’s next show sells out, and they recognise ‘there’s no such thing as bad publicity’.

Hence the band organises a series of outlandish stunts. They include closing one of Southampton’s busiest bridges to play a rush hour gig, and pop-up concerts in public toilets to serenade unsuspecting patrons.

Warwick, 43, lives in Woolston, the ward he represents, with his wife Louise (nee Glyde, ex-Chronicle reporter), and their daughter Tabitha.

He is the former editor of the Southampton University newspaper, Wessex Scene, and spent a decade at the Chronicle in Winchester.

Warwick left newspapers in 2012 on being offered a place in Southampton City Council’s cabinet and served as its deputy leader for three years.

He said: “With No Truth Told Here, my aim was to write ‘the great Southampton book’ – I’ve probably failed, but it was fun trying.

“Having spent a decade reporting on local gigs and bands, I know the Hampshire music scene is hugely underrated and I wanted to produce a book, albeit a fiction, that recognises how much we have to offer.

“Every corner of Southampton is covered, from Redbridge Causeway to Hamble, and Chilworth to the docks. My hope is that people will see our city in a new light, and feel pride if they live here, and be encouraged to visit if they haven’t been before.”

No Truth Told Here follows Warwick’s previous four books: The Portland Contract (2013), Always Maxed Out (2015), The Frisco Spiders (2017), and Nash: A Motorsport Memoir (2019).

To launch the book, he is holding an event at one of the venues featured in the story, Olaf’s Tun craft beer bar in Portsmouth Road, Woolston. It will take place 7.30-9pm on Tuesday, November 30. At the event, he will be selling first edition signed copies of No Truth Told Here for £10.