The boss of a club that was crowned best live music venue in the country last year will appear in court in a fly-posting row.

Russell Haynes, who runs Concorde 2 in Madeira Drive, Brighton, is facing fines of thousands of pounds after being accused of allowing promoters to put up unlawful posters in the city.

He will appear at Brighton Magistrates’ Court charged with breaching Town and Country Planning regulations.

It is part of a crackdown by town hall bosses on fly-posting in the city.

In April Brighton and Hove City Council wrote to every venue in the city reminding them about the regulations. The council warned venue owners they could be prosecuted if they fail to take down posters within 48 hours.

Venues face fines of £1,000 for every poster they are found guilty of being responsible for.

However, Mr Haynes said the only way he can guarantee there will be no posters is to not put on gigs.

He said weeks before he received a summons he had cancelled 15% of his diary including shows by The Wailers and De La Soul in a bid to control fly-posting.

The potential impact on his business is huge.

He said: “They put posters up illegally and I am liable to pay a £1,000 fine.

“I do not condone fly-posting but this is worse for me than the economic climate.

“It is getting harder and harder to get promoters to come to Brighton because they know they can’t promote their shows.

“The only way for me not to be fined is not to put on shows.”

He said despite social media, posters are still necessary to promote concerts.

The venue in Madeira Drive beat the Royal Albert Hall to the title of best live music venue in the country at the Music Week Awards last year.