AMBER Lounge's owner has been fined by the country's top judges after an inspector found the club in Knutsford playing songs from Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson without a licence.

The nightclub on Malt Street closed in April but at a hearing at the High Court in London this week, judges fined Christopher Langhorn and Cheshire Leisure Ltd £1,947 and ordered the fine must be paid by Friday, May 27.

The company was occupier, proprietor and premises licence holder of the venue, while Langhorn was its sole director, until its decision to close last month.

The case went before one of the country’s top judges and he banned the company and Langhorn, who were not represented in court, from playing copyrighted recorded music not just at the Amber Lounge but at any premises they run until they bring their licence up to date.

Mr Justice Morgan also ordered them to pay legal costs run up by Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) in taking the matter to court, with the money due by Friday.

Failure to obey the order and turn any premises they run into a music-free zone until all licence fees are brought up to date would be regarded as contempt of court, the penalties for which can be fines of up to £10,000 and up to six months prison for individuals responsible.

The pay-up or shut-up order was imposed after the judge heard that a PPL inspector heard music being played on the premises, when they did not hold a PPL licence.

The inspector heard tracks including “Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, "Bills" by Lunchmoney Lewis and "Level Up" by Sway during a visit on July 10, 2015.

Maxwell Keay, counsel for PPL, had told the judge that solicitors had sent letters to the premises informing them of the nature and extent of PPL’s repertoire and the fact that the playing in public of sound recordings without PPL's licence or permission constitutes infringement of its copyright, and inviting them to acquire a licence.

The ban applies to all forms of mechanically recorded music such as records, tapes and CDs in PPL's repertoire.

Christine Geissmar, operations director at PPL said: “There is an intrinsic value that recorded music adds to businesses, and this judgement acknowledges that the performers of the music and record companies should be fairly rewarded.

“Businesses that choose to play recorded music without a licence may face legal action and financial and other consequences as a result. Legal action is only ever sought as a last resort where a business continues to play music following repeated attempts from PPL to get the correct licensing in place.

“PPL issues licences to hundreds of thousands of businesses and organisations across the UK when they play recorded music to their staff or customers. 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 PPL’s record company and performer members. The majority are small businesses, all of whom are legally entitled to be fairly paid for the use of their recordings and performances. PPL does not retain a profit for its services.”