Your report (‘This platform gave me everything’: street performers rue end of busking at Leicester Square, 17 April) on the end of busking in Leicester Square, London, gave no real indication of the impact of the amplified music on those working nearby. Our 2023 report on busking noted music levels there above 100 decibels, louder than an aircraft landing. The court rightly ruled that this was unacceptable. For those disturbed by the noise, in the words of the song, “things can only get better”.
John Stewart
Chair, UK Noise Association
• Might not the problem of noisy street performers be solved by banning amplification, especially singing or playing along to backing tracks, which is really just karaoke?
Ian Watson
Glasgow
