Buskers 'face £1,000 fine for not smiling' under new town centre protection order

 
Controversy: A busker in Oxford city centre (Picture: Kamyar Adl/Flickr/Creative Commons CC-BY-2.0)
Kamyar Adl/Flickr/Creative Commons CC-BY-2.0
Ramzy Alwakeel25 May 2015

Buskers in Oxford could face a £1,000 fine if they do not smile and enjoy themselves.

The clause that street musicians should "smile, enjoy yourself and entertain others" is part of a proposed Public Spaces Protection Order that - if passed - would see people penalised to the tune of a grand for breaches.

The Oxford Mail reports the order would ban antisocial behaviour, which includes aggressive begging and sleeping in toilets.

But after a backlash from musicians the council claimed it would not be seeking to enforce the "smile" clause of the order.

"Our busking Code of Practice encourages people to smile while performing so they regard busking as fun, rather than a way of making money," the Town Hall tweeted.

"Smiling while busking is not an area of the Code that would be the subject of enforcement action."

Busker Jonny Walker told the Telegraph the order was "nonsense" and "creates an atmosphere of fear and control".

The council says it is bringing in the order as the current set of rules for buskers are not fit for purpose.

"We currently have no legal power to enforce [the existing] code of practice," it said in a statement.

"We have received complaints from traders, in particular, about buskers playing loudly and for long periods of time outside their shops, which is not fair to them."

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