A BREWERY boss has apologised for upsetting customers with his pub music ban - as folk singers protest at being turfed out of their traditional venues.

Humphrey Smith, chairman of Samuel Smith's Brewery, pictured, has conceded that the firm's ban on TVs, jukeboxes and background music has caused a "lot of customer unhappiness".

He says many have objected to the loss of TVs, particularly Channel 4 racing, jukeboxes and background music, and some have objected to the loss of live entertainment.

"I can only apologise," he says. And, referring to increasing price competition from supermarkets in a static or falling beer market, he says: "Rightly or wrongly, our small brewery's whole strategy and objective is to keep our brewery open and producing and offering secure employment for the very long term."

His comments came in a letter to Nick Blair, who had appealed to the Tadcaster brewery boss to reconsider the abolition of Wednesday night folk nights at the Blacksmiths Arms in Farlington, north of York.

Mr Blair told him that between 12 and 25 singers and musicians had gathered every week at the pub from as far afield as Malton, Harrogate and Hebden Bridge.

"We benefit from a delightful place to play and listen and hopefully give something back to the pub and community in return."

He told the Evening Press that everyone was losing out. "The brewery is losing trade that is going elsewhere. Each of the groups of people who played in Samuel Smiths pubs have moved elsewhere and cannot give trade to Sam's at that time. The pub managers are losing trade that was previously welcome."

The pub's manager, Mike Hendren, said he had lost about £100 of business through the scrapping of the folk nights and the loss of background music had made the pub "like a funeral parlour" at times. But he was now coming under pressure from the brewery because his sales had fallen.

But he claimed that when he had threatened to let the folk singers carry on playing, he had been told by an area manager that this would result in him getting the sack.

The Yorkshire Folk Arts organisation has written to Mr Smith to protest at the banning of folk music, which it says has also hit other major folk venues, the White Horse (known as Nellies to folk enthusiast) at Beverley and the Plough at Whitby.

The brewery declined to comment to the Evening Press. A spokesman also declined to confirm or deny rumours that two landlords at pubs in the London area have been sacked for playing music in defiance of the ban.

Updated: 10:03 Friday, February 04, 2005