A riot broke out during a The Rolling Stones' gig at The Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, Lancashire. Keith Richards noticed a man with his hands on the stage exhorting the crowd to spit, and warned him, but the spitting continued. Richards is then reported to have stood on his hands and kicked him in the face, whereupon some of the 7,000 fans in attendance started fighting, causing over £4,000 in damage. Blackpool City Council later voted to ban The Stones from playing in the city. Forty-four years later, the 2008 council voted to lift the suspension, but a spokesman for the group said they had no plans to return.