International pianist John Briggs was told to tone down his act after complaints from fed-up shop staff.

Mr Briggs, from East Morton, was entertaining Christmas shoppers in Keighley's Airedale Shopping Centre.

But staff at the nearby Birthdays card shop said they had problems hearing customers and asked him to turn down the volume.

Mr Briggs, who was performing with keyboard player Neil Poynter to raise funds for Keighley Sea Cadets, duly obliged but said: "It wasn't as if it was heavy metal music!"

In return, workers at the card shop agreed to collect money for the cadets.

Shopping centre manager Mike Millbank said there had been complaints about the volume on previous occasions.

"The problem is all the hard surfaces and the open frontages of some of the shops.

"This isn't a concert hall or a cathedral," he added. "This is first and foremost a shopping centre. Traders have a legal right in the terms of their lease to the peaceful enjoyment of their premises.

"But it is Christmas and it does seem a time when exceptions can be made."

No one from Birthdays was available to comment.

Mr Briggs has been playing in the shopping centre for nine years and Mr Poynter has joined him for the last four.

Mr Briggs said: "It was light classical we were playing for 35 to 40 minutes in each hour.

"It was no different from other years and a number of people were quite upset."

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