Van ordered to pay up for English pub no-show

Van Morrison has been ordered to pay the landlord of an English pub £40,000 after cancelling a gig he was due to play there in August 2002.

As previously reported on hotpress.com, Gary Marlow had been seeking £400,000 in damages from Morrison and his Exile production company for his no-show at The Crown in Everleigh, Wiltshire.

Giving evidence, Marlow claimed that following the cancellation, monthly revenue at the 16th Century hostelry had dipped from £25,000 to £7,000.

Despite receiving only a fraction of what he'd been looking for from the High Court case, the publican said afterwards: "I would like to say that I am absolutely thrilled that we've taken on one of the Kings of Rock and won. We didn't get what we should have but nevertheless we have beaten him."

Morrison and Exile denied any breach of contract, insisting the claim for compensation was unsubstantiated.