COUNCIL bosses were left bamboozled after a TV hypnotist booked a stage show at Burnley Mechanics.

Ken Webster, dubbed the Mentalist Hypnotist, is booked to appear at the Manchester Road venue on February 25.

But there is no provision for a hypnotism act at the Mechanics, prompting a special meeting of the borough’s licensing committee next Tuesday.

New licensing laws mean entertainment venues are not automatically authorised to hold mindbending shows or seances.

Mr Webster, who combines comedy and close-up magic with mind-reading and hypnosis, is expected to get permission to perform, under the 1952 Hypnotism Act.

And a review of Burnley’s hypnotism rules are expected to be undertaken in the coming months to avoid similar situations.

Peter Henderson, the borough’s licensing manager, said: “The council does not have a policy in relation to hypnotism performances.

A further report will address this issue and will seek to establish standard conditions, fees and delegated powers.”

Webster’s show, for over 18s only, has seen him described as ‘a cross between Derren Brown and Chubby Brown’.

In a 25-year career he has performed alongside the likes of comics Peter Kay, Jim Bowen and Jim Davidson, appeared on Comic Relief and has had a long-running revue at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.