A NORTH-East pub has been hit with a bill topping £8,000 for showing Premier League football illegally.

The Happy Wanderer, in Durham City, was one of four pubs found guilty of breaching Premier League copyright.

The four were banned from making further “unauthorised broadcasts” and ordered to pay a total of more than £30,000 in court costs.

The Framwellgate Moor pub was hit with a bill for £8,721.

When contacted for comment, landlady Sarah Hesler pleaded ignorance.

“I’m just new to the business and I didn’t know I was doing anything wrong,” she said.

“I don’t show anything now.”

Mrs Hesler took over the Punch Taverns venue last year, giving it a £175,000 makeover.

She said the first she had heard of the High Court judgement, handed down on Wednesday, November 12, was when she was contacted by The Northern Echo today (Thursday, November 20).

Punch Taverns said it would be inappropriate to comment.

The other pubs involved, and their costs orders, were: The New Inn, Swindon (£7,000); The Linley Tavern, Stoke (£6,292); and The Huntsman, Rochester (£8,120).

A Premier League spokesman said: “These actions are part of our largest ever pub and supplier investigations programme.

“We will continue to take action against commercial premises that breach our copyright by making unauthorised foreign broadcasts of Premier League football.

“Already this season we have conducted hundreds of pub visits and commenced action against dozens of publicans, with cost awards being made in our favour on a regular basis.

“Our messages to publicans are clear: ignore the lies peddled by suppliers who make false claims about the legality of foreign broadcasts.

“And broadcast Premier League football in your pubs the right way – via Sky Sports and BT Sport commercial agreements.”

In 2011, Portsmouth pub landlady Karen Murphy won a court case against the Premier League, with the ruling effectively proving it was legal to buy a TV subscription from elsewhere in the European Union.

However, a pub is breaking copyright law if the Premier League’s logo is shown in on-screen graphics or its anthem is heard before kick-off or at half-time, meaning it is unlikely a pub could screen games without committing such a breach.

Last year the High Court ordered two pubs to pay £65,000 in costs over persistent breaches of Premier League copyright.