A BAFFLED landlord today vowed to fight a High Court ruling that has banned music from his pub and said: "We are not going to take this lying down."

Brian Laycock, who runs the Starkie Arms, Clitheroe, with his son David, has been given a "pay up or shut up" ultimatum following the hearing in the London court yesterday.

The ruling, which bans the playing of records, music cassettes and CDs, also orders Mr Laycock to pay legal costs of £1,000.

The case was brought on behalf of Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL) after inspectors visited the pub in Castle Street in February.

The judge heard that music was being played though no PPL licence was in force.

Mr Laycock, who did not attend the hearing and was not represented in court, said: "As far as I'm concerned we have had a music, singing and dancing licence for the past two years. We also have a Performing Rights Society licence for our jukebox, which was installed several months ago.

"I understand that the Phonographic licence is for live bands, but we just have a disco on a Friday night and we have no live music at all. "I thought the music licence was a bit of a rip-off as we had to pay £7,000 to modify the building for fire regulations.

"When I got a letter about this hearing I replied to it immediately but got no reply and it seems like we've had no chance to say our piece and have never actually spoken to anyone face to face about this. We are not going to take this lying down."

The ban will remain in force until Mr Laycock brings his music licence up to date and takes out a current one. There will also be an enquiry to assess any possible damages to PPL as a result of the unpaid fees.

No indication was given as to exactly how much Mr Laycock owes but if he disobeys the ban he could face a fine of up to £10,000 and up to two years in prison for contempt of court.

Mr Laycock said he was to contact bosses at Blackburn-based Thwaites Brewery about the ban and was due to see his solicitor today.

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