BUSKERS in York will be told not to hand their microphones over to visitors, following complaints about noise nuisance.

Street performers will be given laminated signs saying they are not allowed to let members of the public use their microphones in the interest of reducing anti-social behaviour.

And officers from City of York Council's neighbourhood enforcement team and Make It York will will be patrolling the city centre on Saturdays to speak to buskers.

At a meeting of the council's Health, Housing and Adult Social Care Policy and Scrutiny Committee yesterday, the council's head of community safety told members: "We're looking at how we tackle issues relating to the abuse of buskers mics in the city centre as that's become quite an issue over the summer.

"Nuisance related to buskers, whilst it doesn't tend to escalate into criminal activity, does create quite a considerable amount of nuisance."

She added that the council is reviewing the city's Busker's Code of Conduct.

A report prepared for councillors says: "Due to the importance of the city centre in terms of York’s overall reputation as a tourist destination and the impact on the economy from visitor numbers, the city centre has been adopted by Safer York Partnership as a hot spot. This is enabling partners to focus on all types of crime and anti-social behaviour related to the city centre."