A LICENSEE accused of wrongly showing live football matches at a Bolton pub has appeared in court.

Nicola Powell, who has held a publican's licence for the last five years, is being prosecuted by the Federation Against Copyright Theft after investigators visited the Barnstormers pub in Lostock Lane on three occasions and saw BT Sport live matches being shown on screens.

Powell, aged 34, of Fearnhead Avenue, Horwich, denies two counts of dishonestly receiving a programme with intent to avoid payment.

At Bolton Magistrates Court Andrew Johnson, prosecuting, told how only a domestic contract to receive the BT service as part of a Virgin Media package had been made for the premises instead of a commercial contract to show the football matches, which would have cost £185 a month.

But on February 8 last year an investigator visited the pub and saw customers in the bar watching the Liverpool v Arsenal match.

There were subsequent visits on August 30 when Burnley were playing Manchester United and then again on September 13 when Arsenal played Manchester City.

Mr Johnson said that several letters were sent to Powell at the pub reminding her of the need for a commercial contract and that an offence was being committed, but these went unanswered or returned marked "addressee gone away". Attempts to speak to her at the pub were also unsuccessful.

Giving evidence in her own defence Powell told the court that she held the pub licence in name only and the premises were being run on a day to day basis by her father, James Powell.

She explained to magistrates that she had taken the licensees' test required to run a pub but her father had not and so she had applied for the licence.

Powell explained that she had suffered from depression and then became pregnant in 2014 and so did not visit the pub often.

She added that when she did call in the televisions were usually switched off and she had never seen football shown on them.

"Ultimately my father was running the pub," she said.

"I didn't really question his authority because he has more experience than I have.

"I believed my dad to be competent. Maybe now not so much."

The trial was adjourned and will be resumed on June 25.