Angry dancers have been denied their Sunday Salsa after Bradford Council has invoked a 200-year-old law.

More than 30 people have been told their Sunday dance classes have been cancelled at the Lakean Ballroom, Briggate, Shipley.

Bradford Council said it had no choice but to enforce the Sunday Observance Act dating from 1780 following a complaint.

But Tommy Kean, 78, of Cullingworth, who has been running dance classes at the Lakean since 1941, has branded the decision "bizarre" and says the ruling could cause him to hang up his dancing shoes forever.

He said "In the 58 years I've been here I've never had any trouble or problems like this. I can't see the problem. It seems that you can do anything on a Sunday except teach dancing thanks to some archaic law.

"We had difficulty finding a spot during the week for a salsa class so we thought Sunday would be fine. I didn't think we would be contravening the law because I'm not holding a dance for hundreds of people - just giving some instruction."

"They're stopping me from trading and running my business. This is supposed to be an area they want to attract business to but they're stopping me from running mine. I feel that if jobsworths at the Council are going to do this to me then I might as well retire. I've no alternative."

The letter sent by Bradford Council's Licensing Department, says: "The Sunday Observance Act 1780 states that any house, room, or other place, which shall be opened or used for public entertainment... upon the Lord's day called Sunday, and to which a person shall be admitted by payment, or by tickets sold for money, shall be deemed a disorderly house or place."

A Council spokesman admitted it was unusual to invoke this law but it was not the first time.

Stephen Lee, 41, a printer, from Wrose, is one of the 30 disappointed group members.

Mr Lee said: "I've never heard anything so stupid in my life. I can go to the football, I can go and do my shopping but I can't go dancing because of an ancient law from 1780."

A Bradford Council Licensing spokesman said the Council had to take action over the paid-for Sunday dance classes at the Lakean Ballroom after a member of the public said the event breached the 1780 Act.

"Unfortunately even though we do not pro-actively enforce the archaic law, which is currently under Government review, as a licensing authority we have a legal duty to invoke the legislation if a complaint is made. We have no discretionary powers in this matter.

"We have written to Mr Kean informing him of the law and the fact that he can still hold dance classes but without charging on a Sunday."

But Jay Dearling, secretary of the International Dance Teacher Association, which represents 6,000 dance instructors nationwide, said: "I've only come across two cases like this in 20 years in dancing. It's entirely up to the local authority if they want to impose these conditions. Places like Blackpool and Brighton couldn't exist if their councils decided to apply this law. Bradford are obviously a bit out of date."

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