MEMBERS of Midland heavy metal band Judas Priest are facing a lawsuit demanding around £31 million in damages.

Walsall-born frontman Rob Halford and bass player Ian Hill, from West Bromwich, along with some of the band’s management and legal team, are being sued by Halford’s former personal manager John Baxter.

Baxter is asking for $50 million dollars, alleging fraud and breach of contract after being fired in August via a letter from a law firm that claimed he was not acting in Halford’s best interests.

He had been Halford’s personal manager since 1982 and now alleges that the singer owes him millions of dollars for contract breaches, including failure to pay commissions, salary and expenses dating back to 1992.

Judas Priest manager Jayne Andrews told the Birmingham Mail: ‘‘Rob Halford validly terminated his contracts with John Baxter and there’s nothing in John Baxter’s various claims, all of which will be vigorously resisted.’’

The band are currently on the American leg of their final world tour. They announced last year that they would quit touring and in future only play one-off gigs.