Police told Shaun Cartwright, 38, his piping had annoyed members of the public and detained him for a breach of the peace.

His bagpipes were seized as he was handcuffed and driven to a police station, although he was later released and told it was not in the public interest to press charges.

Mr Cartwright, who has been playing bagpipes for more than 25 years, was busking in Bridport, Dorset, when he was arrested.

He said: "I'd been playing for almost an hour outside Superdrug on the main street and had made about 50 pounds, so it clearly wasn't causing that much offence.

"But a shopkeeper called the police and two officers turned up saying they had a complaint and they had to respond to it.

"They asked me to move on but I wanted to finish my hour of playing and put the blow stick to my mouth and that was it.

Mr Cartwright, from Bristol, was released after...

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(VANCOUVER) Once a bustling tourist mecca, Vancouver is rapidly gaining a reputation as the "No-Fun-Allowed" city.Granville Island has recently revamped their busking regulations with a dizzying array of almost impossible requirements.

Included is having to pass not one but two auditions by a non-qualified jury, a doubling of license fees, arbitrarily banning popular performers, and for good measure, an unbelievable 15 pages of rules.

And they're just getting warmed up. Forget fire and circle shows. Even with insurance, these are out. Want to change a line or joke? It's not allowed once the license agreement is signed. It's the most preposterous, cockeyed, idiotic conception Busker Central News has ever reported.

License fees were doubled because they "hadn't been raised in 5 years."...

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(MALAYSIA) Kuala Lumpur has just legalized street-performing for which 200 have already auditioned.A jury of professional musicians will license the street-performers without any set limit of buskers to be selected.

With a population of 7.2 million people in greater Kuala Lumpur, there are over a 1000 happy buskers waiting to have their day.

Guidelines were being finalized but mainly the buskers must have a clean appearance and be disciplined enough to adhere to the designated time and location.

All that remains is finding suitable pitches in and around the city. Some areas may be modified to accompany busker performances.

Adjustments to the new legalization are to follow. As we've seen before, things can change around, flip-flop, flip again, then change back in as little as 1000 days. Hopefully, they'll...

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Orlando homeless wanna-be busker Vincent Tarazavich has been prevented by city laws from playing for tips on the streets of Orlando.

It seems that Vincent might be getting his big break, as soon as tonight, possibly. Bob Snow, the man who created Church Street Station back in the day, called me this morning. He's willing to give Vincent a spot in front of the newly reopened Cheyenne Saloon on Church Street.

"We'll throw $20 in the case and get him started," Snow told me. "He can start tonight, if he wants to."

Vincent will be holding his sign for the electronics store this afternoon, so it's not clear if he'll be able to connect with Snow. If he does, though, it would be a happy ending.

Snow told me he was involved in discussions with the city about 10 years ago about setting up a system for busking permits that would have included auditions before a committee...

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(LONDON) It seems there simply aren't enough buskers in London's tube these days to satisfy the growing masses.Also known as the underground subway, a clear and present message to the "powers that be" is rumbling around the tube. Buskers believe many more should be permitted to display their art form in the nation's capital.

As it turns out, you can now take a quick internet lesson on How to be a Tube Busker with a recent article at the Londonist.com.

There's only one thing standing in the way - "the system". Tube busking has now been legal for 10 years. The article goes into a step-by-step process that may, in the end, prove the licensing procedure to be entirely futile.

You will be judged by a 3-person jury that may or may not be qualified to determine what is art and what...

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