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A busker playing the tin whistle at London Underground station had his money snatched away from him by a thief described as ‘the lowest of the low’.
Footage shows the moment a thief took the loose change from the busker’s case as he played music at Tottenham Court Road on Thursday.
He came down from the escalators, paused in front of the money, before grabbing it and sprinting away.
But the whole incident was captured on video by a passerby who wanted to film the man’s performance.
Jitrtiwa Jawjit, who took the video, told Metro: ‘I was waiting for my friend at Tottenham Court Road and took my phone out to record the performance.
(Picture: Provided by @tonnambotchy)
‘Then I saw the thief steal a handful of cash and run straight through the crowd. He went so fast it was impossible to stop him.
‘Staff came round and spoke to the busker, but people were saying they have seen the thief do this before at other stations.
‘I saw the busker the next day and gave him £5 because I felt to bad for him.’
Transport for London staff at the station supported the player but social media users who have seen the video online are desperate to find the busker.
One user wrote: ‘If I had witnessed this, I would have absolutely lost it.’
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Siwan Hayward, Director of Security, Policing and Enforcement at Transport for London, said: ‘We have hundreds of talented, professional buskers performing at our stations each day, who add significant value to people’s journeys on our network.
‘It is absolutely disgraceful that anyone would steal from any of these musicians, many of whom rely on this income for their livelihood.
‘We have reached out to support the busker and encourage anyone who was witness to or has any information on this incident to contact the BTP.’
British Transport Police said they had not received any reports, but have encouraged anyone with any information to come forward.
They said: ‘A BTP spokesperson said: Anyone who is the victim of or witness to an offence on the tube or railway network can text us on 61016.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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