Florida Georgia Line and their tour manager have been slapped with a $15 million (£8.8 million) lawsuit for allegedly breaching an oral agreement over payment for the duo's headlining performance at the 2014 Country Explosion festival.

Event organisers gave the country stars' road manager Troy Johnson a cheque for their $205,000 (£120,588) fee after the Cruise hitmakers closed the final night of the four-day Utah bash on 20 July (14), but asked him to wait three days before cashing it.

In legal papers, the plaintiffs' lawyer, David Drake, writes, "It was also explained that the reason for the delay was that the check would be covered by box office receipts that would clear within the next 72 hours."

However, Country Explosion Llc executives claim Johnson ignored their request and banked the funds the following day, causing the cheque to bounce - and then reportedly blasted festival bosses in an industry email sent to a slew of artists and booking agents in Nashville, Tennessee.

They allege the message caused significant damage to the company's reputation and, as a result, they have struggled to book acts for next year's (15) festival.

Country Explosion Llc officials are demanding at least $15 million in damages and a formal apology from Florida Georgia Line and Johnson, acknowledging the allegations made in the industry email "were incorrect".

The defendants have yet to respond to the suit.