THE LIBERTINES - LIBERTINES ALBUM HUNG IN THE BALANCE

THE LIBERTINES singer CARL BARAT has credited former CLASH frontman MICK JONES with giving his band the incentive to complete their latest album.

CAN'T STAND ME NOW star Barat admits the group's communication broke down during the recording sessions for their eponymous LP, due partly to bandmate PETE DOHERTY's debilitating addiction to crack cocaine.

Shortly after the album was finished, Barat sacked Doherty from the band and ordered him to quit drugs before he could return.

He says, "It really is a miracle that our new album got finished. A lot of it is down to Mick Jones. By the end of the recording we were just sticking songs together, not really communicating.

"We couldn't continue like that so there was no choice - Pete had to go, the alternative would have been like driving through a car crash. I've had advice from so many different people, too much advice really.

"I've been on stage without him feeling like I'm a tyrant, that I'm the one being cruel or that I'm in the wrong for not taking him back."