Madness have presented the Music Heritage Award to London pub the Dublin Castle.

The British band, which sees Suggs take the lead vocals, first performed at the pub in Camden Town in 1979, where they also filmed the music video to 'My Girl', and the group have since returned to the venue to unveil a plaque, recognising the Dublin Castle as the site that has played a crucial role in the band's history.

And the 'Our House' hitmaker's have admitted they feel sad when they learn that old sites, where they have previously performed at, are now closed down, and they are proud of the pub for ''fighting the good fight'' and lasting so long.

They said: ''When we started out there were tons of pubs, clubs and flower shops for bands to start out in, like how we did it. When you hear about all the venues we've lost in London over the last few years it makes us sad and worried about how new bands will ever get the opportunity to break through from the live scene, Gawd Bless The Dublin Castle and all the independent venues fighting the good fight.''

And the owner of the Dublin Castle, Alo Conlon, has revealed he feels ''part of the fabric'' of Madness's history and feel ''honoured'' to receive the accolade.

Alo said: ''We feel very much part of the fabric of Madness's history and so it's an honour to receive this award. We pride ourselves on investing in emerging talent and giving them the platform they deserve and plan to do so for a very long time to come.''