Essex indie-soul four-piece Magistrates have split up after three years together.

The XL Recordings signed band made the announcement in a posting on Myspace and Facebook this morning.

They simply wrote: “Magistrates is over, thanks for everything, we will all be working on other musical projects, we'll let you know more news in the new year. I'm sure we will meet again. Xxx”

Magistrates released the acclaimed EP 'Heartbreak' back in May but were yet to release an album at the time of their split.

They had toured with the likes of Blur, La Roux and Friendly Fires.

(by Scott Colothan)