United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra, Congress Theatre, Carlisle Road, Eastbourne, Tuesday, October 21

AS they set out for their first UK tour last month, the United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra suddenly found itself in the middle of a trademark infringement court case.

The group which brought the injunction, The Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain, lost their case having initially claimed their reputation could be tarnished by the UK group.

The judge decided the UK group was not in competition. The experience was a strange one for the leader of the UK ukes Peter Moss, who founded his orchestra in 2009.

“We didn’t want any of this,” he says. “I didn’t understand what the problem was – you can’t copyright ‘ukulele’ or ‘orchestra’.

“We started playing in Germany – and they know the name United Kingdom, they don’t understand the term Great Britain.”

With a career encompassing the original London run of the Rocky Horror Show, 27 years conducting and arranging music for the BBC Radio favourite The News Huddlines and 20 years as former Bonzo Dog Band frontman Vivian Stanshall’s musical director he didn’t need to copy anyone.

“Nobody can say ‘We’ve got a ukulele orchestra so you can’t have one’,” he says. “You can’t turn to Eric Clapton and say he can’t play Chicago blues because others already do.”

The seeds for his ukulele orchestra were sown early. “My father brought home two ukuleles when I was eight years old,” he says. “In half-an-hour he had taught my brother how to play Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley.”

His association with the Hawaiian instrument continued when he began working with Stanshall on his famous Sir Henry At Rawlinson End recordings for the John Peel Show.

“Everything Vivian did he wrote on the ukulele,” says Moss. “I don’t know if he was a genius, but he was certainly unique – he had problems with alcohol and prescription drugs so he wasn’t easy to handle. He always used to call me his sergeant major as I was bigger and taller than him, and was the only one who would stand up to him and tell him to stop shouting at people.”

As well as the humour which filtered through his work with Stanshall, Roy Hudd and Not The Nine O’Clock News, The Ukulele Orchestra also utilises Moss’s skills as a classical arranger - an experience which influenced his choice of players.

“I didn’t want people who could just play three chords,” he says. “I needed people to learn their parts before they came to a rehearsal like a normal orchestra. All are great musicians in their own right – some play the bass or cello or keyboards in another life.”

The eight-strong orchestra performs in concert-style evening dress from a setlist which features everything from classical works, including Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance, to 1980s rock anthem The Voice by John Farnham.

The latter uses a trick borrowed from Stanshall for the bagpipe section.

“We have a garden hose with a trumpet mouth piece attached,” says Moss. “One of the lads gets up and swings this huge long 4m hose around over his head – people can’t believe this lunacy is happening!”

The orchestra supports a charity which aims to bring two conflicting sides together through music.

“Ukuleles For Peace was started by a lecturer Paul Moore who brings Israeli and Palestinian kids together to play ukuleles,” says Moss.

“It’s a relatively easy instrument to play. In our culture today - when everyone’s face is glued to a smartphone or computer - when was the last time people picked up an instrument and started to sing?”

Starts 7.30pm, tickets £23. Call 01323 412000.