COLDPLAY'S Winchester-born drummer, Will Champion, has revealed on the band's website that they plan to announce tour dates, as early as the spring.

The group have been working in the States on their third album, which is expected to be released about the same time.

In the band's official newsletter, Champion hinted they may play some gigs in Britain to coincide with the release, though added they are "utterly petrified" at the prospect of playing again, having not done a gig in 16 months.

"I think we were in no hurry (to finish the album) because the prospect of touring again was so daunting that we felt we should take our time, and also we wanted to make sure that it was the best it could possibly be," he said.

"But in the end, having no deadline became a problem because we never really felt the need to finish anything. As soon as we gave ourselves a proper deadline we started to be much more productive and the stuff we were doing was miles better."

Coldplay are also hot tips to headline the Saturday night of this year's Glastonbury Festival.