Buskers are told to pipe down or get an Asbo

BUSKING bagpipers have been banned from the Royal Mile and threatened with antisocial behaviour orders if they return.

Police have asked the pipers to sign "Acceptable Behaviour Contracts" promising to stop playing their pipes in Castlehill and Lawnmarket. They face arrest and having their instruments seized if they return, and persistent offenders will be hit with an Asbo.

The move comes after officers were forced to deal with up to 20 complaints a day about noise nuisance in the last year, and gathered the names and addresses of the offending pipers. They then posted out contracts last month to around 20 of them, all of which were returned signed.

Complaints at the top of the Mile immediately ceased, but some pipers simply moved into High Street and Tron Square.

City Centre Sector Inspector Bruce Johnston said the ban would now be extended.

"These pipers are regarded as unlicensed trade and are technically buskers. Most of the pipers do not reside in the city centre and they are receiving quite large sums of money from what they are doing.

"Some of them are coming over from Glasgow, working in shifts and making £80 an hour which they don't pay any tax on so it amounts to quite a good illegal earner.

"There is somewhere in excess of 100 houses with windows looking out on to these areas and most of the complaints have come from residents, some of whom work nightshifts, attend university and study at home, have small children or are very elderly.

"We told the pipers that even though some of them play very professionally they can cause an annoyance and that we have options available to us to deal with it."

The contracts informed pipers that under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act, 1982 they can be prosecuted and may have their instruments seized.

The contract added: "The common law charge of Breach of the Peace (which is an arrestable offence) may also be applicable in these circumstances and one that will be considered . . .

"Furthermore, should further offences be committed the Police will seek to apply for an antisocial behaviour order banning you from playing your musical instrument in the city centre area."

However, one Edinburgh-based piper said the suggestion the buskers were making £80 an hour was "dreamland".

Piper Glyn Morris, 29, from Bruntsfield Place,

said: "I was basically sent a letter saying that if I returned to the Mile I'd be arrested. I've been busking here for years and I can count on my hand the number of times I've been asked to move on.

" There has been a number of buskers coming in from outside and piping up and down the Mile at all hours of the day, and I think they've spoiled it for the rest of us. I think the only way forward is licensing. I'd like to see all of the responsible pipers on the Mile get together and speak with residents to discuss suitable times to play our instruments."

City Centre Councillor David Beckett said he supported the police action. He said: "I can understand how some people may think it detracts from the tourist value of the Mile but at the end of the day we have to look after our residents first."

An exception will be made during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe when pipers will have to pay a £50 performance fee for a 20-minute slot outside the Tron Kirk.

Fringe director Jon Morgan said: "The fee is charged for playing within the Fringe's managed performance space, and performers will benefit from the extra profile and advertising the Fringe has to offer."

The ban raised a mixed reaction from Royal Mile traders. Stuart Smith, manager of Royal Mile Whiskies, said: "I have to say I won't miss them. I understand they're part of the atmosphere, but some of them are just awful.

However, a spokesman for International Newsagents said most of their staff had become "immune" to noise by now. He added: "It's a tourist area and people come to Scotland expecting to hear the bagpipers play."