Angry fans reacted with fury after their band was told at the 11th hour: "Sorry, you can't go on stage!"

A stool was thrown and smashed into equipment on stage at Pennington's after indie outfit Threshold Shift did not get to play their support act.

They had been booked to support Dead Men Walking - the band made up of former Cult, Sex Pistols and Alarm members - on its nationwide tour.

But Dead Men, on a 31-date tour, never play with support and were stunned when they arrived to find the local band ready to go on.

Threshold Shift had given out 300 tickets to loyal fans for the gig at the Manningham Lane club.

The fans started shouting abuse and a stool was thrown at the stage during the performance.

Club owner John Pennington said he was considering offering Threshold Shift another date.

"I have a lot of sympathy with them and I have made great inroads to get another support slot for them, " he said.

Threshold Shift had rung him asking if they could support Dead Men Walking - which includes Glen Matlock from the Sex Pistols and Billy Duffy from The Cult who formed in the city.

Mr Pennington said: "I was trying to support a local band and was thinking 'no problem'. I checked the contracts and it is a bit of a grey area. There was nothing in them about supports.

"The next thing the band were saying they would not go on. I could have insisted but then the main artist would not have appeared. Then a chair was thrown at an amp and smashed it all and everyone fell out."

Threshold Shift band member Paul Armitage said: "The first we heard of any problems was when we turned up to sound check at 5.30pm on the evening of the gig as requested.

"We tried to reason with Dead Men Walking explaining that we had been booked by the owner of the club and had 400 people en route from all over Yorkshire. They were adamant that only they were going to appear on stage that night."

Fan Jo Elsom, from Idle, said: "I am gutted that a Bradford band were not allowed to play in a Bradford venue."

Jack Gray, agent for Dead Men Walking, said: "We do not have support bands for any concert. We do two sets and if there was a support it would go on for ever and ever. If there is no support, then management need permission from the management of the artist if they want to provide one. Without checking with us, we were unaware until the day of the show."

Threshold Shift are next appearing at The Coniston, Idle, on Saturday, November 1.