It would appear that the action must be taking under the current legislation - but it would be very useful if someone locally could take the time and trouble to establish all the details of this case.

Drawback - the new regime probably won't happen until Mar 2005, so we are stuck with the old law as has been since the 1960's - two in a bar only - so a session of 3 or more has always needed a PEL I'm afraid.

Sorry to keep on about this but this view is simply wrong and it is vitally important that we do not accept that pub sessions currently require a PEL - no matter how many participants.

When local authorities use this law against unpaid pub sessions - and count participating customers as performers in public entertainment - there is no legal support for this view.

However there is case law [Brearley -v- Morley 1899] where customers were providing their own unpaid entertainment on a regular basis and the licensee was found not guilty on appeal of providing unlicensened entertainment.