The Pogues have banned Michael McIntyre from joking about their Christmas song Fairytale Of New York, he claims.

The comic mocked frontman Shane MacGowan in his Christmas Roadshow, pointing out how hard the lyrics are to understand.

He got the audience – including famous names such as Barbara Windsor and Emma Bunton – to sing along, making a nonsense of the words. ‘I find it hard to sing along with this song because I don’t the words he’s saying,’ he told the TV audience – before brining out Pixie Lott to sund along

But at a warm-up gig at London's Soho Theatre this week, McIntyre said the band’s management took a dim view of the gag, and have refused to allow him permission to use the song in future.

According to the Sun, he said: ‘Last year I was here trying out material before my Christmas show where I did a joke about that Pogues song.

‘After that show I got a call from their people and I've been banned from doing that joke.’

Here is McIntyre’s routine