The 'beast' was better-known as The Sex Pistols: four snarly lads from London - Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious, Steve Jones and Paul Cook - who'd rapidly become Punk's superstars. Over the past two years, they'd sworn on live TV, slagged off the Royal Family, scored a controversial No. 1 hit in the process, been banned from just about everywhere - and generally annoyed adults, MPs, Councillors, teachers and parents across the land. Not bad going, really!

But despite their reputation, in Huddersfield they were about to reveal another surprising side of themselves - and create a rock'n'roll legend in the process!

Legends: Sid and Johnny

The place was Ivanhoe's nightclub in Huddersfield town centre, the time was the afternoon of Christmas Day in 1977, and the audience for this benefit gig included a group of striking firefighters' children from the local area. Despite the Pistols' reputation for swearing and gobbing their way across the UK, they'd decided to show solidarity with the strikers and put on a free show for the kids.

That would be memorable enough for two teenagers who were there - Craig and Lindsay Mallinson from Halifax - but little did they know it was going to be the last EVER gig by the legendary punks on British soil...well, until 1996 anyway.

Nearly 30 years later, Craig and Lindsay still say it's one of the best Christmas presents they ever got!

Craig: "I'd heard of the Sex Pistols, but it was something my parents would never have let me go to see, so it was a bit of a shock to know they were going to do it in Huddersfield, of all places. We weren't even going to go, but eventually we did!"

The scene that met the kids was like a weird grotto, with Britain's supposedly scariest band as four spiky-haired Santas!

The former-Ivanhoe's nightclub in Huddersfield as it is in 2004

Craig: "The Sex Pistols had paid for EVERYTHING. The place was full of sweets and LPs [the band's somewhat controversially-titled album], and you could just have anything you wanted! There are little kids of 10-years-old running about with T-shirts on with 'Never Mind The B******s'. Young kids with that splattered all over it..!

Lindsay: "I was overwhelmed with everything. There were tables of fruit, pomegranates and oranges. It was absolutely fantastic, what they put on for us."

Craig: "The main thing I remember is the DJ handing out things, skateboards and that sort of thing. Then I remember Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious just walking about...Sid looked a bit drugged-up [He'd be dead of a heroine overdose within two years]. They were just handing cake out to the kids and passing bits out."

Lindsay: "Skateboards were just coming into fashion and they were REALLY expensive. There was a bike as well, just one bike that the Pistols gave away."

Despite being 1977's rock'n'roll bad boys, a lot of people were surprised by the Pistols' party - not least Huddersfield's striking firefighters and their families.

Guitar hero: The Pistols' Steve Jones

Lindsay: "That Christmas we probably weren't going to get many presents with the firemen being on strike. It was a difficult time. The family rallied round for us for Christmas presents so we didn't really do too bad, but our parents were struggling and there were arguments, bills weren't getting paid..."

Craig: "...So it was just something to take off my Dad having to do. It was like: 'Well, the kids have gone over there and they'll have a good time'. We probably had a better time then than we would have had at home!"

Lindsay: "We'd never seen anything like it before!"

And then the big moment arrived! The legendary Sex Pistols took to the stage - to play to a bunch of kids in Huddersfield on Christmas Day afternoon. Bass-player Sid didn't quite 'get it'...

Craig: "They came on and sang 'Holidays In The Sun'. Sid Vicious spat on the kids and Johnny had to tell him that we weren't proper fans - we were just little kids! Johnny Rotten just loved it. He seemed really happy...He put his head in the cake at the end. He licked his fingers, passed it around, and then put his had in and got it all in his hair!"

At the end of the gig, everybody had souvenirs of the day the Pistols came to Huddersfield. Not everybody's parents were happy, though!

Johnny Rotten: "He seemed really happy!"

Craig: "I just remember when we got home we had absolutely thousands of things: badges, stickers, T-shirts, LPs, everything! I think it went in the loft for a couple of months, then Mum thought, 'Right!' She threw out the lot. It'd be worth a FORTUNE now. Also, there was a young girl there, one of the firemen's kids. Johnny Rotten gave her a gold disc of their last record as he was handing out the cake. Where she's gone to, or where it is, no-one knows..."

And nearly three decades on, the irony that Craig himself is now a fireman and has recently gone through a strike isn't lost on him.

Craig: "I didn't really know about the problems my Dad was having then. I've got a better idea now that we've just been through a strike: you don't get paid, you've got bills to pay. When you're young you don't think what your Dad might've gone through. The difference is that his was a 12-13 week strike whereas ours was a couple of days here and there and then back to work. He got no money at all for 13 weeks. It must've been a real struggle. It's weird going through the same sort of thing, it's weird how that happens."

But despite everything, both Craig and Lindsay are still firm Sex Pistols fans. They didn't go and see the re-formed band in 1996, preferring to keep the memory of Christmas Day, 1977 in their minds. After all, this was a truly legendary event.

Craig and Lindsay, Christmas 2004

Lindsay: "The overwhelming thing about it was what they actually put on for us. It was a fantastic gesture, to put all that on for us. It showed another side of Punks and as far as our parents were concerned they definitely saw a different side of them. I was excited by the music and afterwards I think you go and pick up the records because you get interested in it and because you were there!"

Craig: "It's weird because I'd probably never have listened to their music if I hadn't been there. But I did, and I thought they weren't so bad. I even enjoy listening to it now. If I ever hear it, it's just great to remember it. The music was definitely different."

Lindsay: "The pressure was off, no parents on your case. It was probably one of THE best Christmas Days we've ever had...It was unbelievable!"

Were YOU there? If you were at this legendary gig in Huddersfield, we'd like to hear from you! Why not e-mail us: westyorkshire@bbc.co.uk