BARNSLEY busker Courtney Cyrus said that a ban on performers in Leicester Square - an area that allowed him to pay his London rent for almost four years - is ‘disgusting’ and should be overturned.
A ban on licensed and unlicensed buskers and street performers at the tourist hotspot in the capital is until further notice and has been imposed by Westminster City Council.
It follows a case between Global Radio and the council where a judge ordered the local authority to stop the ‘nuisance’ caused by buskers.
Anyone who flouts the new rules could face enforcement that included a fine, equipment being seized or their licence being taken off them, a Westminster City Council spokesperson said.
Coun Matt Noble, from the council, said: “Street performers are a much-loved part of our city’s identity, but we also have to balance this with a duty to protect residents and businesses.
“The court ruling gives us no choice - we now have a legal obligation to act.”
But 23-year-old Courtney, who has almost 100,000 followers on TikTok and has amassed more than one million likes, says that the ban is nonsensical.
He told the Chronicle: “Busking at Leicester Square paid my rent for three or four years.
“It’s the tourist attraction in London but we’ve had trouble with the council for a few years.
“We’ve been told that we’re an annoyance and that we’re being too loud, but there’s still religious protests going off.
“They can do all of that but we can’t play our music - it doesn’t make any sense.”
The council say that there are a number of other sites for buskers to play, but Courtney admits it’s just not practical.
“They’re expecting 20 or 30 buskers to perform in one area of London and do an hour set,” he said.
“That’s just not going to work.
“I don’t like the fact this has happened but I also don’t like the way it’s been covered and how we’ve been portrayed.
“We’ve been out to look like a bunch of hippies going round with a ghetto blaster and blowing London out.
“That’s just not true.
“I wear a suit and sing Disney songs.”
Courtney added that he was bemused with the decision by Global Radio to bring the case to court in the first place.
He said: “I think it’s absolutely disgusting.
“Between the buskers we probably have ten million streams on Spotify.
“We’ve been treated like rubbish.
“This is a radio station who make a living off of musicians, and now they’re shutting musicians down
“It’s horrendous.
“Leicester Square was my best spot and it’s not just the money.
“I’ve been offered so many opportunities playing there.
“I’ve gone to Germany and been offered to play in Morocco and South Africa.”
A petition, which can be found on the Barnsley Chronicle website, has been launched and Courtney is hoping as many people sign it as possible.
“Luckily I do a lot of things other than busking but there’s people who do this and this only,” he said.
“The petition is doing well.
“It’s not a case of if we get an ‘x’ amount of signatures we’ll be able to busk again.
“But it’ll send a message of how people feel about this.”
