Charity bus radios royalties row

The charity would have to pay up to £858 a year for a licence

A Berkshire charity which transports the elderly and disabled says it will have to remove all its radios from their buses over a royalties row.

The Keep Mobile group has been told by the Performing Rights Society (PRS) it must pay up to £858 a year for "public performances" in their 11 buses.

Drivers for the charity in Wokingham listen to travel reports on the radio to ensure they pick clients up on time.

But the PRS says it has to protect musicians' rights.

Sally Gibson, Keep Mobile office manager, says the drivers were "disgusted" by the demand.

'Supporting creators'

She added: "The buses only hold up to 16 people each. It is ridiculous we need a public performance licence for this.

"We are just being treated like a commercial vehicle, there's no concessions for charity vehicles, all our money is raised through donations.

"Our budget doesn't stretch to pay up more than £800 a year on this, so our radios will have to come out."

In a statement PRS said: "PRS is a not-for-profit organisation that licenses the public performance of music on behalf of its 50,000 composer, songwriter and music publisher members and pays royalties to them each time a piece of music is played in public.

"Music royalties create a future for music by supporting creators while they continue to write.

"Each case is treated independently, based on facts."