Hundreds of traders, residents and students are calling for Oxford's bagpiper to take the high road.

But Heath Richardson, 32, who has been playing his pipes in Cornmarket Street for 14 years, is refusing to budge.

Oxford City Council has a permit scheme and a code of practice for buskers. But businesses say the noise has become intolerable and are demanding action.

They want the council to introduce tougher regulations for buskers, particularly in Cornmarket Street.

Dr William Waggott, a medical publisher in Cornmarket Street, said 400 people have signed a petition calling for the council to stop Mr Richardson playing in Cornmarket Street and for tougher restrictions on other buskers.

He said on some occasions noise created by buskers forces his staff to wear headphones when they are working.

Dr Waggott said: "The bagpiping drives me mad - it drives a lot of people mad, but at least the councillors are starting to listen to us on this issue.

"We have formed a group called Anti-Nuisance Busking in Oxford, because we want to encourage busking in a regulated manner.

"Music adds to the quality of the experience of Oxford, but unregulated it can ruin a city centre."

He said businesses were compiling a dossier of incidents to give to the council.

They are backed by Jesus College, because buskers interrupt students' work.

Jo Reid, Verger at St Michael at the Northgate Church, has also told the council that during a visit by schoolchildren from Oxford's twin town Bonn earlier this year, she asked Mr Richardson to stop playing so they could sing in a performance, but he refused.

She said: "I asked him to relocate but he told me this was his job. He could be heard throughout the 40-minute performance."

Mr Richardson, from Chipping Norton, who trained at Glasgow's College of Piping, said he could not remember the incident in detail but added: "People seem to like what I play and I can earn up to £25 in half an hour.

"I'm allowed to play for half an hour and then I have to have a two-hour break before I come back.

"I know there's a petition going round to get rid of me but as long as I abide by the council's guidelines then I should be okay."

Mr Richardson - who is not Scottish - does not play in Cornmarket Street all year round but, during busy periods, he plays five days a week - meaning he can earn about £250 a week.

But the piper did win some support. Karen Francis, 52, from Abingdon, said: "I have given Heath some money because he plays Highland Cathedral, which is a very special piece of music for me.

"People in this country are always moaning, which is why I spend so much time abroad."

Jean Fooks, the council's executive member for a cleaner city, said: "We need to see if further regulations should be introduced.

"It's possible that the bagpiper could be encouraged to play at a different pitch but I would not want to stop busking completely, because it adds to the vibrancy of the city."

Ms Fooks said the issue could be discussed by the licensing committee in the new year.

  • Bagpipes date back more than 2,000 years. There are references to them in ancient Greek writings and it is thought the Romans may have brought them to Britain.

An explosion in the popularity of bagpipes occurred in Britain in the 12th century, and the instruments were played as Scottish King Robert the Bruce's troops marched to face the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

With the growth of the British Empire, often spearheaded by Highland regiments of the Army, the bagpipes became known worldwide.

The Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford contains a collection of bagpipes from around the world.

As well as in Scotland, bagpipes are played today in Northumberland, Ireland and Celtic regions of France and Spain.