A HIGH court judge has decided that clubbers are facing a silent night after banning an Accrington nightspot from playing music.

Mr Justice Sales banned proprietors of Level One nightclub from playing sound recordings in public and ordered them to pay legal costs of over £100 at the High Court in London on Monday.

Owners of the Warner Street club say the order is the result of an error made by the music licensing authority and say it is business as usual at Level One.

The order bans proprietors Leon Kelly and Martin Smith from playing music, not only at Level One but also at any other premises they run, after the court heard they were caught playing copyrighted music without a licence.

On top of the ban they also face a legal costs bill of £1,628 which must be paid within 14 days.

They have been ordered not to play any more music until they bring their music licence up to date.

Failure to turn the premises into a music-free zone until all licence fees are updated, would be regarded as contempt of court, the penalties for which can be fines of up to £10,000 and up to six months in prison.

When contacted by the Lancashire Telegraph, owner Leon Kelly said that music would continue to be played at the club and that their licence was currently up to date.

Mr Kelly, who plans to appeal the order, said he had queried a bill which was £6,000 higher than usual and had been told the issue was resolved.

At court, the order was imposed after the judge heard that they were caught by an inspector playing music on the premises when they did not hold a Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL) licence.

Christopher de Mauny, counsel for PPL, said that solicitors had sent letters to the premises informing Kelly and Smith that playing the music without PPL’s licence or permission constitutes infringement of its copyright, and inviting them to acquire a licence.

The ban applies to all forms of mechanically recorded music such as records, tapes and CDs in PPL’s repertoire, which covers 97 per cent of all music.

A spokesperson for the PPL yesterday said the order remained in place and they believed it had been served on the correct premises.