Rock dinosaurs Status Quo have pleaded yet again to appear at the Live 8 show at London’s Hyde Park.

The band said they were “desperate” to perform at the charity extravaganza, but amazingly said the band turned down a 6pm slot because the Quo are performing a gig in Ireland on the same evening.

Pony-tailed frontman Francis Rossi told GMTV: “We’re going to be there if they want us to.

“We want to make it clear – we are desperate for this gig!”

He added: “We have to be out of there by two or three o’clock. I think we have been offered the six o’clock slot which we just cannot do because we are on stage in Ireland.”

TV presenter and radio show host Johnny Vaughan is holding an appeal to let Status Quo play. As the Scotsman reports, he said: “The Quo would rock the park, the world, the universe. I just don’t see why they’re being victimised, it’s ridiculous.”

The Daily Mirror are also petitioning for Status Quo to play at the event.

However, Live 8 promoter Harvey Goldsmith is adamant that no more acts will be added to the bill. He said: “Artists like Status Quo, who I’d love to have been on, came too late… Lots of artists, Peter Kay, Tony Christie, Meatloaf, Mötley Crüe, we don’t have room for them.”