A legal order to ban buskers in Leicester Square is being appealed by Westminster Council for being “too restrictive”.
Musicians blasting out songs on a daily basis in the West End tourist hotspot was compared to “psychological torture” by a judge, who ordered the town hall to pull the plug earlier this year.
Workers at Global Radio, which owns stations including Heart, Capital, Smooth and LBC, complained they were “plagued“ by noisy and poor-quality buskers and had to wear headphones or work in cupboards at their offices in Leicester Square.
It resulted in a legal battle, and at the end of March District Judge John Law ruled that the council must act to stop the “nuisance”.
“The use of repetitive sounds is a well-publicised feature of unlawful but effective psychological torture techniques,” he said.
In response, the local authority suspended busking performance areas in Leicester Square in order to comply with the order.
But of Friday, Westminster confirmed it had appealed the ruling arguing it should not apply to all pitches.
A Westminster council spokesman said: “The council has appealed to the Crown Court against the sentence imposed by the District Judge regarding busking in Leicester Square.
“Our view is the effect of the abatement order is too restrictive in controlling all buskers for the whole of Leicester Square and instead should have been limited to the single amplified pitch that was the basis of the Global Radio case.
“We believe that, with sensible measures in place, we can find a fair solution that minimises disruption while allowing performers to do what they do best.”
Global, which counts Emma Bunton, Amanda Holden and Jamie Theakston on its roster of radio presenters, owns its headquarters at 30 Leicester Square.
The company, along with the Hippodrome Casino and the nearby Chinese Community Centre, complained repeatedly to Westminster Council about the noise from amplified buskers before launching legal action.
Performers have been allowed in the square since a scheme was introduced in 2021 to regulate street entertainment.
Global, which has around 600 staff working at its offices every day, brought the legal action under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 over a failure to tackle the noise “nuisance”.
It is believed to be the first case of its kind, deploying a law usually used to tackle problems such as flytipping.
The council originally fought the case by arguing it should not be held accountable for the problem and also challenging the sound levels evidence.
