Spandex-clad, falsetto rock singer Justin Hawkins has paid £350 to win an eBay auction of an advance copy of the Darkness's soon-to-be released album. Hawkins said he had acted to stop the CD being leaked before its official release at the end of this month.

We notice that we have now drawn attention to the album's impending arrival. But surely The Darkness would not engage in daft publicity stunts as part of a well-orchestrated plan to build interest in the CD, would they?

"I've bought our own album back off this character who's selling it on eBay," he told the BBC. "It cost me £350 and it's going to be a tenner when it's in the shops - with artwork."

The band's record company released only a small number of CDs to people in the business and music journalists. Each was tagged with a serial number, so tracing the leaker should not be too difficult, particularly for a band with their own spaceship. (See The Darkness video back catalogue.)

Hawkins says the culprit won't be getting any more advance copies of albums from the record company, and won't rule out legal action. The band's drummer meanwhile is calling for the culprit to be sacked.

eBay says its rules don't specifically prohibit the sale of pre-release CDs.

Oh, and a single will be out on 14 December, since we're discussing it. ®

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