Piper targeted by online abuse

Mr Richardson, 32, has been playing to shoppers in Cornmarket Street, Oxford, for 14 years.

But some traders complained about the music and have launched a petition to move him.

Dr William Waggott, a medical publisher in Cornmarket, has so far collected 400 names for his petition but Mr Richardson has hit back and says he has 500 signatures.

Now the piper, from Chipping Norton, has urged police to act after abusive comments about him appeared on the MySpace website - including the use of a four-letter word beneath a picture of him.

The Oxford Bagpipe Man Haters' Club has been formed on the site, with 200 members - but on Facebook, another networking site, 41 people have joined a support group for Mr Richardson.

He said: "I am astounded that people are actually being abusive online - it's totally over the top and it has to stop.

"I visited the police station earlier this week to bring it to their attention but someone at the front desk tried to fob me off, so I will have to ask them to look at this again.

"What they are saying about me on this website is insulting and it's harassment but it won't put me off playing my bagpipes in Cornmarket."

Dr Waggott, whose petition calls for tighter regulations for buskers, admitted he had had a "run-in" with Mr Richardson in the past.

But he denied contributing to the bagpipe haters site and added: "I have not been alerted to this club and I certainly would not condone their activities.

"Our petition is above board and honourable and we are simply calling for the council to regulate busking in a fairer manner."

Toby Shergold, a spokesman for Oxford police, said he did not have details of Mr Richardson's complaint, but said: "A man was spoken to by the police after Mr Richardson complained in September about insulting signs being held up in a window in Cornmarket Street.

"An officer spoke to the man involved, but the signs were not deemed abusive enough for any police action."