A Morris dancer has urged the Keighley public to contact their MP to show their opposition to a parliamentary bill which could outlaw all live music.

The Licensing Bill, due to be debated in the House of Commons next month, aims to revolutionise the existing licensing laws.

As well as extending drinking hours, it will make live music a licensable activity. This would abolish the current two-in-a-bar rule, which allows up to two people to perform in a bar without a licence. It will also prohibit musicians performing at an unlicensed premise or event.

Dick Taylor, who dances with the West Yorkshire based Flash Company, said: "This is absolutely ridiculous. How can the Government now say they support music and entertainment?"

He added: "The impact on Morris dancing and other such festivals will just be to kill it off. They cannot afford a licence.

"Folk traditions of this country have been handed down for centuries. It cannot be right that Scottish traditions can be continued, while English and Welsh ones are to be made illegal.

"No other country in the world restricts the arts in such a way. It is essential that maximum effort is put in by everyone affected right now to try to get the bill amended as far as possible."

Mr Taylor, director of the Russell Street Project, urged people to phone or write to their MP, or to sign the on-line petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/2inabar.

The proposals could have wide-ranging implications with suggestions that carol singing, pantomimes, music lessons and band practices could all require a licence. Even music at weddings and parties might not be exempt.

And the measures would make it illegal to sing happy birthday in a restaurant which does not hold a Public Entertainment Licence.

Culture minister Kim Howells MP has, however, said the bill would be changed to exempt churches and other places of public worship and village and community halls from fees.

He said: "The last thing I would want to do is to threaten the great tradition of church music that has been at the very heart of our nation's cultural life for hundreds of years."

He added: "The exemption I am announcing today will enable religious institutions and music societies to flourish. I hope it will provide re-assurance to your readers."

The maximum penalty for failure to comply with the new regulations will be a six-month prison sentence and a £20,000 fine.

About 500 campaigners, including Billy Bragg and Jools Holland, have made a silent protest outside the Houses of Parliament.