IRON MAIDEN have posted the following message at their official website:

Following the official announcement this evening on BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe show, Iron Maiden are very proud indeed to confirm they will be once again headlining at this years Download Festival on Sunday June 10 2007, making this a record breaking fourth headline appearance at the world famous Donington Park venue.

The first time Maiden ever played at Donington was when they topped the bill in 1988, with KISS and GUNS N' ROSES among the supports, playing to over 100,000 people - the biggest Donington crowd by far and still the biggest Metal show ever in the UK - returning again in 1992 and 2003.

Says Bruce Dickinson: Our fans know that Donington is a special place for Maiden and we are all looking forward to getting back there for a fourth time. The 'A Matter of Life and Death UK Tour' last December was very special for us and we very much appreciated the fans giving us such great support in us playing the whole album which, lets face it, was not necessarily the easiest thing to do for us or them! It was definitely the right challenge for us at that time but outdoors in the summer is different and as a thank you to our fans we will be including quite a few more 'classic' favourites balanced with some of the tracks from the new album. We will naturally bring Eddie and his toys along, so all in all it should be a great day for everybody!!'

Tickets will be going on sale tomorrow morning (Wednesday 31st January) at 9.00am and are available from the official website for the festival (Downloadfestival.co.uk) or the credit card hotline 0870 400 0822.

Headline acts for the other two days are MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE on Friday 8th and Linkin Park on Saturday 9th and further announcements of other artists that have been confirmed for the main stage, the line up for the other stages and the full press announcement about the headline acts can be found on the official Download Website. downloadfestival.co.uk

As the official website, downloadfestival.co.uk will contain all information about camping, accommodation and all the packages, as well as information on the transport facilities available.