Metal legends Iron Maiden are having such a blast on their The Book of Souls World Tour that they've decided to continue it into 2017 and visit their European fans in a string of arena dates. The tour includes eight dates in England, two in Scotland and one in Wales.

Maiden founder member and bass player Steve Harris says, 'As it's been so long since our last full UK arena tour, we really wanted to get to our fans in as many cities as possible. We're really looking forward to it, especially visiting places we haven't been to for a very long time like Leeds, where we haven't played since 2005, and Liverpool, where we haven't played since 1990.'

The tour kicked off in February in Florida and they've played 72 dates across 36 countries. And if you're going to travel across six continents you might as well do it in style, like in a new 747 jumbo jet (Ed Force One) that can comfortably fit the band, crew and 22 tonnes of equipment; no queuing at baggage collection for the Maidens. And, yes, lead singer and experienced air transport pilot Bruce Dickinson is at the controls of that baby.

The Book of Souls is the band's first ever double studio album and their most successful chart-wise to date, debuting at the #1 spot in over 40 countries around the globe, but they know their fans appreciate them playing lots of older songs as well.

Iron Maiden 2017 tour dates:

Thu 4 May – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
Mon 8 May – Manchester Arena
Wed 10 May – Sheffield Arena
Thu 11 May – First Direct Arena, Leeds
Sun 14 May – Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
Tue 16 May – SSE Hydro, Glasgow
Wed 17 May – AECC GE Oil & Gas Arena, Aberdeen
Sat 20 May – Echo Arena, Liverpool
Sun 21 May – Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham
Sat 24 May – Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
Sat 27 May – O2 Arena, London
Sun 28 May – O2 Arena, London *DATE ADDED

Tickets on sale 9am, Fri 30 Sep.