A furious busker told shoppers to stay away from a cafe because its owner is ‘an absolute n**’ – after the singer was accused of scaring customers away.
Jason Allan was performing with a guitar and two amplifiers in Shrewsbury town centre on May 12 when he was confronted by the cafe’s owner Alan Lancaster.
Footage of the astonishing confrontation shows Mr Lancaster telling the busker: ‘Can you make yourself a bit smaller?’
He goes on to say that Mr Allan is causing potential customers to ‘swerve around’ him and avoid his cafe.
A bemused Mr Allan tells Mr Lancaster that there is nothing wrong with his position and insists that he is not stopping people from visiting his cafe, Philpotts Shrewsbury.
The confrontation threatens to boil over as Mr Lancaster tells the busker he will be calling Shropshire County Council.
As the cafe owner walks away, Mr Allan addresses passing shoppers and tells them: ‘Alright everyone, don’t go to Philpotts because the owner is an absolute n**. That’s how you stop people from buying sandwiches.’
A furious Mr Lancaster returns and tell the busker he has ‘no idea’ how tough his business is. Mr Allan points out that he is a musician and had to work through lockdown.
They continue arguing, before the musician tells the cafe owner to ‘get a life’ and insists that his business has ‘nothing to do with me’.
The heated row was shared on TikTok, where it has been viewed nearly two million times.
Mr Allan posted the footage and claimed Mr Lancaster was ‘arrogant’ to try and ‘bully him into moving’.
However, the cafe owner responded and said he just wanted the busker to move his equipment.
He claimed he only ‘lost it’ when Mr Allan told customers to avoid his cafe.
The cafe owner shared a photo of the busker’s set-up which showed a microphone stand, two amplifiers, a tour dates poster, a guitar case and a suitcase.
He also called on Shropshire County Council to create designated spots and time slots for buskers.
Mr Lancaster said: ‘I’m in my shop by 5.30am, so when someone rocks up at 11am on a nice sunny day once in a blue moon and it’s going to impact my business, I’m going to say something.
‘If buskers stand on the other side of the road then people won’t swerve around them and completely miss Butcher Row. It’s no difference to them but to me it’s massive.
‘I asked if he could make his set-up smaller because he was taking up a lot of room and he started kicking off. I had no idea I was being videoed.
‘The whole thing lasted about two minutes but with social media you can make it look like an argument went on all day.
‘I am normally quite a nice guy but when he said ‘don’t buy sandwiches from Philpotts the owner’s a n**’ I just lost it. Well, I didn’t lose it. I just said I’d speak to the council and walked off.
‘I didn’t swear, throw anything at him, kick his amp. I didn’t ask him to turn it down or move. I just asked him to make his area a little bit more compact.
‘He said he wanted to have a civilised conversation but I told him he’d really upset me. Business is business and he’d riled me.
‘The guy’s talented but the things that he says over the microphone are going to get him into trouble.’
He claimed he was also concerned about how emergency vehicles would drive down the street.
The cafe owner added: ‘He’d set up right next to the a-boards and that restricts access to people getting up and down Pride Hill.
‘I was worried about the council coming and taking the a-boards away because it was restricting access for people and ambulances.
‘We’re fine as a business but I need to keep on it. I need people through the door.
‘I get his point but he crossed the line. I wish I’d never gone up to him.’
He said he gets asked about the video daily since it went viral but he’s keen not to retaliate.
The cafe owner claimed that when he reported the incident to the authorities they told him not to take any more action.
The busker said he has not been contacted about the confrontation.
A spokesperson for Shropshire County Council said: ‘After being contacted by the owner of Philpotts, Shropshire Council’s licensing team looked into this matter and established that no licensable activities were taking place.’
