A COUNTY councillor has appealed for more buskers and street entertainers to come to a Worcester suburb in a bid to attract more shoppers.

Richard Udall has appealed for musicians to come to St John’s as he believes the double whammy of coronvirus and roadworks are putting people off shopping in the area.

He said: “People have told me how much they enjoy listening to their music, even the bad ones can be fun to listen to, and we need to encourage more people to shop and visit St John’s. A bit of street entrainment would help us to attract more people, to get people shopping again. I would ask entertainers and members of the Musicians Union, to come to St John’s, to give us a go, play your music and entertain us.”

“St John’s is suffering from the roadworks and the lockdown has also been hard to overcome, we need a bit of colour, some theatre and some fun back into St John’s life, to attract people to the shops, to listen to music and to enjoy local a coffee from one of the cafes in the village.”

“St John’s has the potential to serve 30,000 people, living west of the river and in surrounding villages, we are a third of the city and we need to have a unique selling difference, busking and street entertainment could significantly help us to bring more people into St John’s and to enjoy the street scene”.

“I have long argued that we need to bring the fun back to local shopping centres, shopping should be a pleasure, not drudgery, so my simple message is let’s dance in the rain, sing in the sun and enjoy St John’s with live music.”

Local resident Hayley Lewis said: “I love buskers. I think it is so nice to sit down on a warm day with a sandwich and listen to the music. It cheers me up to see the music and the acts. I think we should encourage buskers and entertainers to come to St. John’s to add some more fun.

What do you think about encouraging buskers to perform in St. John’s?