St Albans musicians have reacted to proposed changes to the busking code for our city.

The new council proposal would mean that buskers are not permitted to play music or sing above the level of "ambient street noise" on non-market days.

This is different from the current code of conduct, which states that buskers should "make sure that music or voice is played at a level just above the ambient street noise", regardless of whether it is a market day.

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St Albans musician and local busker Paul Littler said: "Live street music should be encouraged and celebrated. It’s integral that we get behind local talent to give them the space to express their passion whilst making an honest buck in the process.

"If done properly, there is room for everyone! Having witnessed the slow decay of our beautiful market, which once drew crowds in their hundreds, decent street performance is now more important than ever!

"By creating more hurdles and restrictions, we risk not only losing our market, but also our proud musical culture."

Sarah Walker of national busking campaign group Keep Streets Live said: "Keep Streets Live appreciate the fact that St Albans council contacted us as part of their consultation and also that they appear to be continuing a voluntary and collaborative approach towards busking.

"We believe the code of conduct is largely sensible but are concerned that some of the proposals on market days, such as taking a break every 20 minutes, would be unworkable.

"We’d be happy to discuss alternatives to this that would achieve the aim of reducing disturbance whilst still ensuring that the city remained attractive to street performers.”

Sarah is the sister of the late Jonny Walker, who used to love to busk in St Albans. His pitch was outside the Clock Tower or by M&S.

He believed strongly that public spaces should be exactly that and campaigned tirelessly for buskers rights and founded the Keep Streets Live campaign.

Please contact laura.bill@newsquest.co.uk if you are a busker and wish to discuss further.