Silence is golden as back-street garage refuses to pay for pop stars’ royalties

The organisations which collect recording royalties targeted the two-man workshop in Scarborough for two music licenses. Now Mick and Jeff have had to pull the plug on BBC Radio 2 after their argument that no one else listens to the radio fell on deaf ears.

The friends have had a radio in the workshop since 1981 but never imagined they were in the same public entertainment league as shops, pubs and restaurants.

They were ordered to face the music by two separate licensing agencies – the PPL and the Performing Rights Society. They paid £139 to PPL but were then asked for the same sum by the PRS.

They refused to pay for the second licence and took the radio home.

Mr Parkins, 59, said: “We have paid one lot and now we’ve had to stop listening to the radio because we don’t want to pay the other lot.”

A PPL spokeswoman said: “When recorded music is played in the workplace, two licences are usually required. This is because copyright protects musical compositions and lyrics separately from the recordings of them.”