90s boy band Boyzone have been banned from using Stephen Gately’s image during their upcoming 20th anniversary tour by the late singer’s estate.

In addition to not being able to use any pictures or videos showing Gately’s image, they will also not be able to use his voice on any previously unreleased material in case they plan on making a new album.

Shane Lynch told The Sun: "The tour is 100% a celebration of our relationship with Stephen - it's meant to be a party for us guys where we can remember him.

"We can never leave our Steo out. But unfortunately for us guys, you have Stephen's estate in the background and it's very difficult to take his image on board.

"Even though he was part of Boyzone, I don't know to what extent we can involve him in the show. The estate has their say and sometimes it's a bit difficult to come to a compromise of what we can and can't use.

"Some people have different ideas of what's right and what's wrong. I don't want to pinpoint any individual - I just call it the estate."

It is rumoured that Gately’s widower Andrew Cowles was happy for the band to incorporate Gately in their show but rather it was other family members that took issue.