A North Yorkshire market town wants to ban a group of buskers who play 'When the Saints Go Marching In' on accordion - badly - eight hours a day.

Shoppers and businesses in Richmond complain they have been tormented by the tune for the past two summers, reports the Daily Telegraph.

They have demanded action from local councillors who admit the buskers had become a problem which must be examined before they return next spring.

Coun Clive World said: "I am not against busking, but those people who cannot properly play a musical instrument, in my view, should not be there.

"We need to look at bringing in a by-law to move these people on. I have heard about another town where the police move them on without the need for a by-law because it is classed as begging, and people can be moved for begging."

But Coun John Harris asked: "If we have nothing against good buskers and want to move the bad buskers on, then who makes the decision about what makes a bad busker?"

A police spokesman confirmed that the police have powers to move on buskers if they receive complaints.

He added: "Officers will not be taking a stance on the musical ability of buskers and will only move them on if they are thought to be a public nuisance."

Gary Evans, 27, who works at the local newsagents, said: "People come into the shop and say, 'they only know one song and they can't even play that properly'."

The council is to seek legal advice on how to create a by-law that would require buskers to apply for permission to play music in the town.

I thought the buskers got a bad rep because they were in it with the pickpockets.  We had a few in Boston who were fresh out of the recently-closed state hospital!
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