Rogue trader Nick Leeson will NOT be appearing at a Southend punk music festival, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Leeson, back in this country after serving four years in a Singapore jail for defrauding Barings Bank, was supposed to be singing My Way at Club Riga next month with punk band B*****k Brothers.

However, his solicitors said he had no connection with the band, and that Club Riga had been victims of an elaborate hoax.

Leeson's solicitor Stephen Pollard from Kingsley Napley in London said there had been similar trouble with the band in the past.

He said: "Mr Leeson has no connection with the B*****k Brothers, nor does he intend to have any connection with them. He will not be appearing in any concert or in any recorded singing."

Punk Aid is a two day event being held to raise money for cerebral palsy and the Fleetwood Music and Drama Centre for Handicapped Children.

A spokesman for Club Riga said: "Whilst we are happy to be hosting the event, we were advised by Punk Aid that Nick Leeson would be appearing with the B*****k Brothers, and this information we took in good faith.

"If it should be the case Nick Leeson is not to appear we apologise unreservedly for any distress this has caused the parties involved."

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