SILENT nights go hand-inhand with the festive season – and there will be plenty of them at a popular town pub this Christmas after it was barred from playing music.

Top judges have slapped the ban on the Crown Inn, in Ludgershall, after landlords were found guilty of playing recorded and copyrighted songs without a licence.

A hearing at London’s High Court was told how the pub’s occupier, proprietor and premises supervisor, Malcolm Cummins, was caught playing music without the required permission from royalties collectors Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL).

And if he does not call time on the music, Cummins could end up behind bars of a different kind.

Failure to turn any premises he runs into a music-free zone until all licence fees are brought up to date could result in a fine of up to £10,000 and up to six months in prison.

Mr Justice Mann was told that Cummins was caught after a PPL inspector visited the premises on August this year.

During the visit, the inspector heard chart hits including ‘Wiggle’ by Jason Derulo and Snoop Dogg and ‘Gotta Get Thru This’ by Daniel Bedingfield being played despite no licence being in force.

PPL’s counsel Fiona Clark said solicitors had sent letters to the premises informing Cummins of the nature and extent of PPL’s work and the fact that the playing in public of sound recordings without a licence or permission constitutes infringement of its copyright.

The letter also invited him to acquire a licence for the watering hole, which he failed to do.

Nazneen Nawaz, spokesperson for PPL, which has 90,000 members including major record labels and global music stars, said: “PPL issues licences to hundreds of thousands of businesses and organisations across the UK when they play recorded music to their staff or customers and require a licence by law.

“Licensees include bars, nightclubs, shops, hotels, offices, factories, gyms, schools, universities and public sector organisations up and down the country. After the deduction of PPL’s running costs, all licence fee income is distributed to members. PPL does not retain a profit for its services.”

Cummins, who did not appear in court and was not represented at the hearing, was also hit with a fine of £1,672 to cover legal costs, which must be paid before December 29.