A judge has branded buskers music as “psychological torture” in a case against Westminster Council. Global Radio, the UK’s premier radio company, took the council to court over the busking noise outside of their offices that they are yet to stop. Their offices, home to stations including Heart, Capital, Classic FM, Smooth and LBC, are located in Leicester Square, a busking hotspot.
The judge said that the Global staff are being subjected to “industrially amplified daily concerts” outside of their workplace and noted the standards of the music as well as its loudness: “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 commented on the recurring sounds and their effect on one’s wellbeing, drawing the comparison that repetitive sounds are “a well-publicised feature of unlawful but effective psychological torture techniques”.
During the trial at Westminster magistrates court, Global staff described the disturbing music outside of their office, claiming they had to hear buskers set lists repeating again and again. They played recordings made from their desks to demonstrate the volume, including covers of Tracy Chapman and Adele.
Charlotte Jacob, a Global employee, said that “It’s incredibly distracting. Yesterday in the office in the afternoon I was not able to conduct a conversation with a colleague two desks away, probably three metres max, as someone was singing ‘Hallelujah’ very loudly.”
Another employee, Gareth Andrewartha, said the sound of buskers “permeates the windows, so I can hear every lyric and element.” He also said that workers have had to “duck into a cupboard” for some peaceful respite.
The executive chairman of the nearby Hippodrome, Simon Thomas, also said that the noise was “tortuous” due to its repetition and poor-quality performers.
Global Radio, alongside the Hippodrome Casino and the nearby Chinese Community Centre, have filed multiple complaints to Westminster Council about the pervasive noise of amplified buskers in Leicester Square. Global brought the case against the council under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, over a failure to tackle the noise “nuisance”. It may be the first case of its kind, as the EPA is usually used for problems like fly tipping and waste management.
London itself has some of the strictest busking rules in England. Councils like Hillingdon, Westminster, Camden and Greenwich require all buskers to operate with a licence – those that don’t can face criminal charges.
According to the Westminster Street Performers Association (WSPA), a community aiming to keep street performance alive in the area, a 2021 licensing scheme was brought about during the pandemic, without any communication to the busking community. This scheme shuttered 90% of available busking spaces. They claim that when the Christmas markets are on, only one playable pitch is available – the council say there are always at least four.
A WSPA spokesperson claimed that “Buskers have been left with insufficient and often unusable spaces.” London busker Harry Marshall told the Big Issue that “People who are playing outside of those pitches are just trying to survive. There’s a real war against buskers.”
Westminster Council have recently unveiled planes to create “quiet zones” and “quiet nights” in some of their busiest areas. This comes after they announced their ‘Westminster After Dark’ initiative, which will place more restrictions on the UK’s struggling night-life sector. You can read more on that here.
