The Stage

Hurst pledges to fight on despite attack on home

Published Tuesday 29 June 2010 at 14:28 by Matthew Hemley

Up-front fees activist Clive Hurst has vowed to continue his campaign against rogue agents, despite fears that his crusade may have prompted an attack on his home last week.

Hurst said he is adamant that a brick thrown through the living room window of his home in Weybridge late on June 22 is connected to the fact he continues to speak out against companies he feels target vulnerable aspiring performers.

The incident last Tuesday also saw two tyres slashed on his car, with the vehicle itself dowsed in brake fluid, which Hurst has claimed was an attempt to destroy the paintwork.

Despite this, Hurst, who is currently an Equity walk-on councillor, said he would not be perturbed from highlighting companies he feels behave improperly.

“Intimidation and blackmail just do not work,” he said.

Last Tuesday’s abuse was the latest in a string of incidents Hurst has endured over the last four years, during which time he has been engaged in fighting companies he believes are conning aspiring performers out of hundreds of pounds with no guarantee of any work.

His activities have seen him appear on BBC programmes such as Inside Out, while his own website, anactor.net, regularly features warnings about companies he believes are behaving outside of the law.

Because of his actions, Hurst said he regularly receives threatening phone calls late at night, and in November 2006 letters making false accusations about Hurst were sent to his neighbours.

The Equity councillor said that he would not be enduring the abuse if the Employment Agency Standards, the body that is tasked with keeping check on the activities of agencies, had the power to take effective action. Currently the department can only issue warning letters or bring a prosecution through the courts.

He added that new regulations due to come in this October aimed at tightening legislation governing the taking of up-front fees, would be worthless if EAS cannot do more to enforce the law.

He said: “We have a totally ineffective government department. Even if we do get new regulations they will mean nothing, because if agencies break the regulations nothing will happen to them.”

Hurst added that agency licensing needs to be brought in to help police the activities of agents, which he said should be similar to the licensing of gangmasters, which was introduced following the 2004 tragedy with cockle pickers in Morecambe.

He added: “Who has to die in order to get licensing in the entertainment industry. I hope it’s not me.”