BUSKERS performing in the shadows of York Minster are being asked to pack up their instruments, as their music is disturbing children in nearby classrooms.

Minster School has told street performers to stay away during school hours, because pupils cannot concentrate on their foreign language lessons.

The school has put up a sign on the corner of Minster Yard and Minster Gates, beside the Roman Column, asking buskers to keep quiet from 9am to 5pm.

Head teacher Alex Donaldson said buskers often gathered underneath the window of the modern languages classroom, so he had followed in the footsteps of several shops on High Petergate and asked them to find another spot.

He said: “Outside the Minster is a prime place for tourists to pass, therefore it’s a prime busking site for all sorts of people.

“As the road is pedestrianised it makes it easier to park themselves there, which became a bit problematic for us, because a lot of it was going on underneath the French window.”

The school is renowned for its musical pedigree, particularly its choir, but Mr Donaldson said: “The music lessons can more than hold their own. The room the buskers stand under is modern languages, so it’s French and Spanish lessons.” Mr Donaldson said buskers had always agreed to move on when he has asked them, but said the sign would save him and them time and effort.

He said: “It was basically to spare us and them the annoyance of them getting set up then going away.”

Buskers need a badge from City of York Council to perform in the city.

Mr Donaldson said the school welcomed buskers during holidays and outside lesson times.

A council spokeswoman said: “Buskers can’t book a space anywhere either, they just turn up and try and find a space to play. If they are asked to move (due to a complaint of ‘noise volume’ or their ‘quality’ for example) then they are obliged to do so.”

Fiddle player Dan Foster, 19, of Holgate, York, said: “I was busking near the South Transept of York Minster last summer. I had been playing there for about ten minutes when somebody knocked on a window behind me. It was a teacher from the Minster School who asked me to stop because I was distracting the pupils with my music.

“I immediately stopped playing, apologised and moved on to another spot. I have not busked there since.

“To be frank, it’s not a very good place for busking, there are plenty of better spots in the city centre.”

Dan, who is studying law and criminology at the University of Manchester, added: “Buskers are an important part of the cultural life of York. They create a good atmosphere in the city centre.”