A Pickering busker who spends much of his time entertaining tourists and shoppers in Whitby with Irish folk tunes is seeking public support after being repeatedly moved on by police.

Fred Moss, of Park Street, Pickering, is now seeking the view of Whitby people on whether they consider him and other street entertainers a tourist attraction or a nuisance. "We regularly perform on the corner outside the HSBC Bank in the town centre. But when someone complains we have to either turn the sound down or move on. It seems to be one person in particular who does the complaining to the police," said Mr Moss.

Other buskers who perform on the site include a three-piece string group and a singer of sea shanties.

"We all make a few pounds which convinces us that we are more of a tourist draw than a nuisance," said Mr Moss.

"You only have to look at how successful the Whitby Folk Week is with all its street entertainers. It's not as though we are playing heavy metal music or rock." Under an age-old by-law a member of the public who is being disturbed by a busker can ask them to stop or move on if they are playing or singing with 100 metres of their home or business. Inspector Iain Spittal of Whitby police said: "We recently had a number of people complaining about buskers in the Church Street area.

"What we have are a number of people in Whitby who can hear a busker and take exception to it, even though they either live or work more than 100 metres away.

"A lot of people argue that it is part of the Whitby scene and the tourist industry and a lot of people like to sit and watch the buskers and make donations".