TV's husband and wife team Richard and Judy have come under fire from outrageous pop group the Camp Boyz after they blocked the release of their cheeky new record.

The Bradford four-piece had already recorded their latest single, which pokes fun at the daytime TV presenters.

The song, called Richard and Judy, incorporates the theme tune to the couple's programme This Morning.

But when they contacted Granada Television, which owns the copyright to the tune, they were told they could not use it. In a fax to the group, sent when the dispute broke out, Granada said Richard and Judy had not given 'clearance' for the theme tune to be used. But today a spokesman for the company said the decision had been made by Granada and not the celebrity couple.

Camp Boyz founder member Tim Walker, said: "They're really taking themselves a bit too seriously by stopping us from releasing this.

"What really annoys me is that it's not as if we've been really nasty about them. We could have said a lot worse. We're making fun of ourselves as much as anything."

Bosses at the Camp Boyz' publishing company Sherlock Holmes were convinced they had a potential hit on their hands when they heard the Richard and Judy song.

Ian Volke, of Sherlock Holmes contacted Jimmy Kaleth, who wrote the tune for This Morning who was happy for it to be used on the record, as long as Richard and Judy also approved.

But Mr Volke received a curt fax from programme assistant Samantha Tully saying: "Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan do not give clearance for the theme tune to This Morning being used in the Richard and Judy composition performed by the Camp Boyz."

But a Granada spokesman today told the T&A that the decision had been made by Granada rather than Richard and Judy personally.

"It is an original composition of which Granada Television owns the copyright. It was composed as a theme tune for use on This Morning," he said.

The Camp Boyz first formed in 1995 and have built up a big following on the gay scene.

Each member has his or her own over-the-top character in the band, with Tim hamming it up as Titus Aduxas in leather and rubber; Steve Willow playing transvestite Susan Winterbottom; Joanne Shorten as Jo Jo and Carl Arnfield as camp bodybuilder Brutus Maximus.

Tim, who runs his own recording studio in Bradford, said the band was formed as a joke to begin with.

"We were having a drunken conversation saying that boy bands were so camp you might as well have a band called the Camp Boyz and really go over the top," he said.

The band have produced several of their own CDs, which are snapped up at by fans at gigs and have performed at high-profile gay events including Hyde Out! and the Shocking Pink Festival in Leeds.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.