Race against time on music licence at Brierley Hill club

Nightclub owners in Brierley Hill are facing a race against time to get a music licence after they were silenced by a High Court ban.

Pulse Nightclub in Dudley Road is hoping to finalise an agreement with regulators to enable it to reopen on Friday night in time for what promises to be a busy Bank Holiday weekend.

High Court judge Mr Justice Sales imposed the ban after the club was caught playing copyrighted music on the premises without a licence from music royalties collectors the Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL).

The club is owned by 35-year-old Danette Simpson and managed by her brother Steven, 31, of Dudley.

Mr Simpson said he and his sister were "horror-stricken" when they read in the Express & Star that they had been banned from playing music by the High Court.

He says they had received no correspondence from PPL, which issues licences to play music publicly and the first they knew that they were in trouble with the organisation was when they read a report of the court case in the paper.

"We weren't due to open last weekend but we will be open this Friday for our under 18s night and on Sunday for our Soul Society night," he said. "We were horror-stricken when we read about the court case.

"I got in touch with the Performing Rights Society but now realise it was the PPL that took us to court.

"We never received a single document telling us anything about the licence or that there was a court case.

"The PPL are now processing a licence for us as we speak and we intend to be open on Friday."

Mr Simpson said he and his sister took over the club in December and, after reopening the venue in March, they got in touch with the Performing Rights Society and were in the process of sorting out a music licence from that organisation.

By Louise Jew