WONDERWALL and Champagne Supernova were belted out as the Virgin Media V Festival came to a deafening climax on Sunday. The only surprise was it was Snow Patrol rather than Oasis singing the famous anthems at Hylands Park in Chelmsford.

WONDERWALL and Champagne Supernova were belted out as the Virgin Media V Festival came to a deafening climax on Sunday. The only surprise was it was Snow Patrol rather than Oasis singing the famous anthems at Hylands Park in Chelmsford.

At 1pm on Sunday, news started to filter through the Essex site that although the Gallagher brothers had performed the night before at the Staffordshire leg of the festival, Liam had been diagnosed with laryngitis and the band were not attending.

It appeared as though the weekend, which had been fantastic up until that point, would come to a disappointing end.

However, Snow Patrol were bumped up to the headline slot and they relished the chance to play to a larger crowd than they would have otherwise been expecting. They put on a superb 90 minute set which had revellers screaming for more long into the night.

After they had thrilled fans with all their own classics, and a rendition of Chasing Cars which made the hairs on the back of the neck stand up, the band returned to the stage and were met by a chorus of boos when they paid tribute to Oasis. This soon stopped when the first few chords of Wonderwall were played with the whole crowd singing along to that and Champagne Supernova , as Snow Patrol performed the songs in a way Liam and Noel would have been proud of.

Over 75 bands took to the four main stages throughout the two-day event, with around 160,000 festival goers basking in the glorious sunshine.

Lilly Allen stopped halfway through her afternoon set on Saturday to find out the Ashes cricket score. The news that England were thrashing the Aussies made a good day even better!

Over on the V stage, Amy Winehouse made a surprise appearance with the Specials. A relatively healthy-looking Winehouse joined the ska legends for You're Wondering Now and Ghost Town .

The Script, Dizzie Rascal, Tinchy Stryder and the Noisettes also drew a large following as Hylands Park baked in temperatures of around 30�c.

The Killers headlined the V Stage and the Las Vegas four piece sent fans into a frenzy with festival anthems including: Mr. Brightside , Somebody Told Me , Human and All These Things That I've Done .

Katy Perry gave one of her Les Paul Gibson guitars a flying kick during her set on Sunday - maybe she had been looking forward to seeing Oasis as well!

The Essex crowd also reveled in Lady GaGa's mesmerising performance, despite breaking her shoe in the second song!

Other highlights from the final day included appearances from Elbow, Biffy Clyro, James Morrison and Paolo Nutini.

However, the stars of the weekend were Snow Patrol who had the crowd hanging on their every word. The greatest compliment you can give to the Glasgow based rockers is they didn't look out of place closing the festival and fully deserved their headline spot. And by the end of the night Snow Patrol were the name on everybody's lips, not Oasis.

Meanwhile, away from the main arena, celebrities (and media folk) enjoyed the hospitality inside the Virgin Media Louder Lounge. Stars including Charlotte Church and boyfriend Gavin Henson, Dermot O'Leary, Rupert Grint, Billie Piper and Myleene Klass all took advantage of the free bar and extra treats including a St Tropez tanning booth, a hair salon and a spa.

VIP guests were also treated to an acoustic set from The Proclaimers who had their exclusive crowd singing along to Letter from America and I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles).

Next year the V Festival celebrates its 15th anniversary on August 21 and 22 and tickets are already on sale. Visit www.vfestival.com for further information.