A North Lanarkshire pub is one of two Scottish boozers to be hit with a hefty fine after showing Sky Sports programmes illegally.

The Woodside Bar in Coatbridge and the Red Lion Inn in Doune were both found to be infringing Sky’s copyright following successful legal action taken by the company.

The pubs have now been ordered to pay £10,000 each in damages, as well as fund the placement of notices in local and trade publications advertising the ruling.

Sky said the successful outcome forms a key part of its commitment to protect venues who invest in legitimate Sky Sports subscriptions.

The company said it is “committed” to visiting every licensed premises reported by other businesses for illegally showing Sky and has made arrangements to visit hundreds of pubs each week in towns and cities across the UK this season.

Head of commercial piracy at Sky, George Lawson, described how illegal broadcasting of sporting events is “damaging to the pub industry,” adding: “This is why we’re committed to protecting Sky customers who are unfairly losing business due to this illegal activity.

“These latest orders demonstrate how seriously the courts take piracy through the large penalty applied, but also through the order to fund advertising, which we hope will help to highlight the consequences of televising Sky’s content illegally.”