Westminster City Council is appealing to the Crown Court against a sentence imposed regarding busking in Leicester Square. The appeal follows a prosecution brought by Global Radio under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, alleging that the council was failing to take action to abate an alleged statutory nuisance caused by buskers and unlicensed buskers using pitch 9 in Leicester Square.
The Licensing Committee discussed the matter at their meeting on Wednesday 17 September 2025. According to the Public Reports Pack, the council introduced a busking scheme in April 2021 to cover certain areas in the borough, including the West End, under part V of the London Local Authorities Act 2000. This scheme empowers the council to regulate busking within these designated areas.
The original judgement, issued on 25 March 2025 at the City of London Magistrates' Court, included an Abatement Order against the council, requiring it within 28 days to:
a. abate the statutory nuisance consisting of noise from the playing of music by buskers in Leicester Square; and b. prevent the recurrence of that statutory nuisance.
The council is appealing, arguing that 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 9, that was the basis of the Global Radio case. If the Crown Court upholds the original Abatement Order, the council would be required to control all buskers across Leicester Square, a measure they deem too broad.
Members will be updated once the appeal is determined.
