'Noisy' orchestra silenced at Nottingham shopping centre
A youth orchestra was asked to leave a Christmas recital at a Nottingham shopping centre after complaints it was too noisy.
The Robin Hood Youth Orchestra was booked to play in Victoria Centre from 10:00 GMT until 13:00 on Saturday but was told to finish at about 11:00.
Tony Burton, whose grandson plays clarinet in the band, said the children were dismayed by the decision.
Intu, which runs the centre, said it had complaints about noise levels.
Mr Burton said: "[The children] were a little bit dismayed because they don't get paid for this, it's voluntary.
"It's a bit disappointing for them when they're trying to do good, when there's so much bad around and they're told they can't do it.
"If they were too noisy I can understand the complaints.
"But as the management of the Victoria Centre had arranged this - I would have thought they'd have decided to put them in a position where they wouldn't be a problem to the shops."
About 30 members of the orchestra, which is made up of players of grade four ability and above, were playing a mixture of traditional Christmas and classical music to raise money for charity.
Ian Burton, head of Nottingham Music Service, said the orchestra performed outside in Trinity Square after leaving the centre.
"Our orchestra is well known for playing with energy and enthusiasm, which is why they get such a fantastic response from audiences.
"When our initial venue on Saturday, where we had a large, enthusiastic audience, cut our concert short it took us only a few moments to find another venue that was more than happy for us to perform."
In a statement Intu said: "We received a number of complaints about the noise levels in the centre so unfortunately we had to ask the orchestra to wrap up their performance earlier than planned after two sets.
"We're committed to supporting local groups and charities here at Intu Victoria Centre and hope to welcome the youth orchestra back in the future."