Organ grinder banned from Ripley streets
An organ grinder and his toy monkey have been banned from performing in the streets of Ripley after concerns over health and safety.
Ripley Town Council had to cancel summer holiday act Paddy Cooke and his mechanical monkey Simon, who were due to perform after being ordered to carry out a risk assessment on acts.
The decision was made after licensing bosses at Amber Valley Borough Council wanted to gauge if the pair posed a danger to the public.
He was among acts booked by the town council for a programme of summer entertainment which had to be cancelled at the last minute after the borough council requested the assessments for each, requesting the amount of people who would attend each performance.
Organ grinder Paddy, 64, from Crich, was booked to perform on Saturday, August 2, on Oxford Street. Mr Cooke said: "What risk an organ grinder places I do not know. I could see it if I was a fire eater but it's not even like I have a real monkey."
A borough council said: "We do not require an assessment for each act, simply an assessment that takes into account the activities taking place."
The full article contains 202 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
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Last Updated:
06 August 2008 2:42 PM
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Source:
n/a
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Location:
Ripley & Heanor
