Last updated at 22:24, Sunday, 28 September 2008

PROSECUTORS have ruled that it would not be in the public interest to take action against two street entertainers whose performance in Keswick was criticised for going beyond public decency.

The entertainers prompted protests from the town mayor, Roger Purkiss, after hundreds of visitors had watched their act in the town’s Market Square.

The performers, who come from Bristol and were stopping off in Keswick on their way home from the Edinburgh Festival, rounded off their act by putting lit sparklers between their buttocks.

The pair had previously stripped down to thongs and Mr Purkiss claimed the act was unsuitable for family audiences in a traditional town like Keswick.

A complaint was made to the police, but now it has been decided that the entertainers will not be prosecuted.

Keswick police said a file had gone to the Crown Prosecution Service, but it had decided that it was “not in the public interest” to pursue any further action after reviewing a video of the performance.

The act was defended by another regular street entertainer in Keswick, Andrew Hudspith, of Penrith, who said it was wrong that the mayor should try to act as the town’s “moral guardian”.

He said the pair were circus trained performers and would have been welcomed in many other towns.

Mr Purkiss, however, said he had received a huge amount of feedback from the public.

He added: “All of it has been 100 per cent backing for my comments. People have, without exception, backed up my stance that this performance was entirely unsuitable for Keswick.”

It now seems likely that, at a meeting next month, a licensing scheme to regulate street entertainers in the town will be considered.

First published at 19:50, Thursday, 25 September 2008
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk