The Court of Appeal has ruled against Sir Elton John in an appeal over millions of pounds in touring costs.

Sir Elton lost a �14m claim last year over touring costs he believed he should never have paid.

The singer had sued his accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), and Andrew Haydon, former managing director of John Reid Enterprises (JREL), once Sir Elton's management company.

He was and is known as a man of extraordinary generosity

Lord Justice Robert Walker on Sir Elton

Sir Elton wanted to re-open the case against PWC, saying they were negligent in managing his affairs, but the Court of Appeal justices ruled against him by a majority.

Lord Justice Robert Walker, giving the lead judgement, said he had "come to the same conclusion as the High Court judge" who ruled that he did not find the accountants negligent.

There was no application after the appeal court ruling to take the case to the House of Lords.

Sir Elton's lawyer Mark Howard QC, told the judges that Sir Elton was suing PWC for negligence for failing to tell him that he, not JREL, was bearing the touring costs.

Former manager John Reid settled with Sir Elton

Mr Howard said the total costs borne by Sir Elton amounted to �7m and he wanted to claim this sum in damages, plus interest.

But Lord Justice Walker said: "Sir Elton was and is (as he made clear in his evidence) a musician and an artist, not a businessman or an accountant, and his long-standing friendship with Mr Reid was far from an ordinary commercial relationship.

"He was and is known as a man of extraordinary generosity. It would be wrong for the court not to recognise those matters."

He said it would also have been wrong for the courts to give more than "trifling weight" to normal practice in the entertainment industry over payment of expenses.

No guarantee

The judge added: "To my mind this appeal illustrates, yet again, a melancholy truth.

"The fact that very large sums of money are to change hands under a commercial agreement, and further fact that it has been negotiated and prepared over a long period by well-remunerated professionals, provide no guarantee of competent drafting."

He said it was the court's task to make sense of the agreement as best it could.

He had reached the conclusion that the 1986 contract between Sir Elton and his management company did not mean JREL should bear the tour expenses.

Lord Justice Pill agreed, but Sir Martin Nourse said the contract did mean JREL bore the touring costs.

The singer faced an estimated �8m legal bill after losing his earlier action in the High Court.

Mr Justice Ferris, sitting in the High Court in London, rejected Sir Elton's original claim over touring costs in April last year.

He also rejected claims of negligence against PWC and Mr Haydon.