ANOTHER publican in East Lancashire has been ordered to turn off the jukebox after being raided by a music industry watchdog.

Background music could become a thing of the past at The Bridge Inn, in Burnley Road, Padiham, unless landlady Beverley McRae brings her licences up-to-date.

Inspectors from royalties collectors Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL), called at the pub last October and heard tracks like Ace Of Spades by Motorhead, Radioactive by Kings Of Leon, and By The Way by the Red Hot Chili Peppers being played.

She faces a fine of up to £10,000 and a two-year imprisonment if she disobeys a High Court order, secured by the PPL.

She can also expect a legal bill for £1,686.

Pub and leisure trade bosses have been staging a rearguard action against the PPL licensing system, amid fears fees may rise, as a licensing consultation is ongoing.

The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, the Bar Entertainment and Dance Association, the British Beer and Pub Association and the British Hospitality Association have generated a £300,000 fighting fund for those affected.

Pub operators Intertain, which runs bars including Walkabout in Burnley, fear their licensing fees for special events, may rise by 4,000 per cent. Simon Kaye, the firm’s chief operating officer, said: “The company would not be able to support that level of payment.”

Mrs McRae, who also runs the Dugdale Arms, in Burnley, was unavailable for comment last night.

Colin Paton, the landlord of The Bay Horse in Worsthorne, which was hit by a similar fine last August, said that paying fees to download tracks, and then another performance charge on top, was ‘not right’.