“The middle-eight of their hit single, ‘All The Small Things’, is definitely taken from a 1995 track of ours called ‘Politician’,” claims guitarist Peter Jones. “I’ve got print-outs showing that it was played on American college radio, so it’s perfectly feasible that the Blink 182 members would’ve heard it. Especially as they, themselves, were still part of the punk underground at the time.”

There are certainly marked similarities between ‘Politician’ and ‘All The Small Things’, which has gone platinum on both sides of the Atlantic.

“It could’ve been something they subconsciously stored away in their brains,” he speculates. “The plan now is to get in touch with their people and see what they have to say.”

Jones is adamant that they don’t want to take anyone to the cleaners.

“I’ve got Enema Of The State and think it’s a great record,” he says. “We just want them to acknowledge the fact that they’ve taken the middle-eight from ‘Politician’, and make some sort of financial gesture.”

hotpress was unable to get a response from Blink 182 before going to press.