Bagpipers have reacted with fury after being banned from the streets of London by Boris Johnson.
For years the sound of the pipes has been heard at popular tourist sites in the UK capital, including Westminster bridge.
But the local authority, led by Mr Johnson, is introducing new rules that will outlaw noisy buskers from playing close to flats, offices, shops or hotels.
The move has provoked an angry response from pipers in the city, including former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell, who is backing calls for the bagpipes to be given a reprieve.
He said: “Having been a bagpiping busker myself in my student days I am a great supporter of buskers in our towns and cities.
“They add a lot to life. Inevitably there are good and bad – that goes for any instrument – but the dismissive attitudes expressed in this advice reveal an unjustified bias against the pipes.
“I would certainly support any pipers who sought to have it changed.
”Mind you, given the nature of David Cameron ’s so-called campaign, and his attempt to pit Scotland against England, it can’t be long before he and Boris Johnson ban bagpipes in London altogether.”
Pat Sands, 58, who busks in London’s West End, said: “Boris should be ashamed of himself, especially during the centenary year of the First World War when over 300 pipers were killed on the Western Front.
“It would seem that Boris cannot help but to subconsciously carry on the English tradition of suppressing Scottish culture.
“We’ve been lumped in with electric guitars and ‘attack’ drums. Many pipers feel that we’ll be refused once licensing comes in and Boris has spoken before about how he finds them annoying.
“Most pipers can physically only play for up to an hour before moving on anyway.”