Buskers will be banned from Leicester Square next week after a judge ruled they were inflicting “psychological torture” on office workers in the area.
Westminster Council said it had been left with “no choice” but to remove the street entertainment pitches in the world-famous tourist hotspot.
From April 17 all performances in the square will be suspended and entertainers who defy the ban will face fines and having their equipment seized.
See also: What next for London buskers?
Their licence to perform elsewhere in the borough could also be confiscated under the new rules. Letters were handed out to buskers explaining the plan on Friday.
It follows Global Radio, which counts Heart, Capital, Classic FM, Smooth and LBC among its stations, taking Westminter town hall to court over the noise pollution outside their Leicester Square offices.
Station staff described being “plagued“ by poor-quality musicians and said they had to wear headphones and work from cupboards to escape the sound.
Recordings made at their desks were played to Westminster magistrates’ court in a bid to prove the daily interruptions workers faced and featured renditions of ‘Fast Car’ by Tracy Chapman and ‘Someone Like You’ by Adele,
The district judge said that “while the volume is the principal mischief it is clear that the nuisance is exacerbated by the repetition and poor quality of some of the performances".
He added that repetitive sounds are "a well-publicised feature of unlawful but effective psychological torture techniques" and ordered the council to stop the nuisance.
Councillor Matt Noble 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.
“This is categorically not a ban on street performers in Westminster. Our next step is to comply with the ruling by suspending street performance pitches in Leicester Square, consider the court ruling and find a fair solution.”
Global, which counts the likes of Emma Bunton, Amanda Holden, Roman Kemp and Jamie Theakston as presenters, owns its headquarters at 30 Leicester Square.
The company, together with the Hippodrome Casino and the nearby Chinese Community Centre, complained repeatedly to Westminster Council about the noise from amplified buskers.
Rod Stewart and the late George Michael are among the famous names who started their careers busking in central London, including in Leicester Square.
Since April 2021, entertainers in London's tourist hotspots needed to apply for a licence as officials struggled to manage the growth of street art, floating Yodas and noisy stereo systems.
The move was introduced by the town hall after local businesses described "chaos", with "increasing noise disruption, intimidation, obstruction of premises, anti-social behaviour".
A Westminster council spokesman said the town hall had been put “in an impossible position” over the Leicester Square ruling and it had “always tried to make sure the right balance is struck between everyone involved”.
They added that the local authority knows “how much performers are loved by visitors and are an iconic part of the city’s tourist scene and are keen to make sure that buskers are able to continue and adding to the wider city’s cultural heritage”.
