Punk fan and promoter Paul Johnson is pushing for a Blue Plaque to be stuck up at a key point in Bury.

The reason? The Clash played a gig there in 1978 – at The Corn Exchange – and attendees were considered to have been so ill behaved by the council that certain types of live music were banned for two decades in Bury.

The “mayhem” allegedly included vandalism and ‘public urination’.

However the Bury Society which handles local history has decided it will not be supporting the campaign. “That was obviously something the council was not happy with so the Bury Society considers that putting a blue plaque up would be inappropriate…” is the official line.

Johnson told the BBC:

“It’s actually an even better response that they have said ‘no’ – I think anyone involved in punk would absolutely love that.”

“Nearly 50 years on and there are still people who hold a grudge against punk rock music… but modern history has value too.

“There is a big void in Bury’s history because established bands were not allowed here – we could have had good times but we were denied it.

“The council acted like they do in Footloose – they banned rock and roll.”