CHURCHES could be spared from having to buy an entertainments license after pressure from organisers of the Bromsgrove Festival and MP Julie Kirkbride.

Government ministers are now rethinking a scheme which would have forced churches and church halls to have local authority licenses.

The plan sparked an outcry as it could have hit the pockets of churches and forced musical events like the Bromsgrove Festival and the Three Choirs in Worcester to cut back.

"This is a completely daft idea which could seriously threaten the viability of churches in Bromsgrove," Julie Kirkbride said. "I am delighted that the outcry has forced Ministers to think again but I will keep up the pressure until they drop this madness."

The Bromsgrove MP took up the battle after an approach by Mary White and Andrew Harris, chairman and secretary of the Bromsgrove Festival, which regularly stages a concert in St John's Church.

"It would be a total disaster and a real threat to the Festival," Mrs White said.

"Churches have a long connection with music and the arts and provide very good venues. It would be too expensive if they had to get a license."

Jim Page, Bromsgrove-based former secretary of the West Midlands Making Music group, said the regulations would threaten live music, particularly in rural communities where the church may be the only venue. He said nearly half of the 3,200 concerts a year by members of Making Music - including Bromsgrove and Barnt Green Choral Societies and Bromsgrove Concerts - were held in churches.

"If the churches decided that getting a license was too much trouble, we would lose the venue," he said. "It has a positive side if it nudges churches in the right direction for comfort and providing facilities, particularly for the disabled, but it does need watching."