Red Red Letters

Four members of chart-topping reggae act UB40 have declared bankruptcy following the collapse of DEP International, the band’s record company and management.

Birmingham Crown Court heard how the locally based outfit, which sold more than 70 million records and had a string of hits including “Red Red Wine,” “had been pursued for outstanding tax issues.

The court declared Sax player Brian Travers, drummer Jimmy Brown, trumpeter Terence “Astro” Oswald and percussionist Norman Hassan as bankrupt and allowed tax officers to try to seize property to cover outstanding debts.

The case came a week after UB40 was honoured by the Performing Rights Society, which presented a plaque at the Hare & Hounds pub in Kings Heath, Birmingham. The act played its first gig at the venue in 1979.

A spokesman for former UB40 frontman Ali Campbell said the bankruptcy showed his client was right to quit the act in 2008.

His departure sparked legal issues with his former bandmates.