Sir Elton loses millions in court case

Sir Elton John today lost a lengthy legal battle over multi-million pound touring costs that he believes he should never have paid.

The court of appeal today rejected his plea that his accountants were negligent in handling his business affairs.

Sir Elton lodged the appeal after losing a high court case last April that left him with an estimated £8m legal bill.

Sir Elton had sued Andrew Haydon, former managing director of John Reid Enterprises, which for many years was the singer's management company, and the City accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers, which looked after his business interests.

In April last year, Mr Justice Ferris, sitting in the high court in London, ruled that Sir Elton's claim in respect of tour costs of £7m failed against both PricewaterhouseCoopers and Mr Haydon. He rejected claims of negligence against them.

Sir Elton's appeal was only against PricewaterhouseCoopers, which he alleged was negligent in managing his affairs. Three court of appeal judges dismissed the appeal by a majority today.

There was no application to take the case to the House of Lords, the highest legal body in Britain.