DJ Grandpa has become the first street performer to be stripped of his busking licence after the council said that his act had generated "public safety concerns".

The mobile disc jockey, who has been a near permanent fixture outside the underground station this year, was told on Friday that Camden had revoked his licence.

During the summer and early autumn months, crowds gathered to watch – and sometimes dance – as he spun dance and pop records while wearing a latex 'Grandpa' mask at Britannia Junction. 

He rang a small bell whenever tourists dropped change into his tips buckets.

But his act split opinion, delighting tourists and day-trippers but annoying residents and businesses in the area.

When neigbourhood police officers received complaints, they began secretly filming him to check whether he was meeting all the conditions of his licence and later requested it was revoked.

That application was approved by the council, on the grounds that he was attracting nuisance behaviour and causing an inconvenience for people living and working nearby.

Camden said that DJ Grandpa denied breaching the conditions of his licence or that his music would cause noise concerns.

But the council's community safety chief Councillor Jonathan Simpson said: "The decision to revoke this licence should provide reassurance to other licence holders and local residents that the Council will take appropriate action against those who fail to comply with conditions."

He added: "This licence holder continually breached the conditions of his licence. The police public safety concerns, and those of council officers, were justified, leading to sufficient reasons for this revocation. It is important to note that the council remains committed to promoting street entertainment within the context of our fair and reasonable licensing process.”

The Brazilian-born DJ, whose real name is Roberto Di Mari Santucci, was interviewed by the New Journal in August.

He said he was granted a “special licence” earlier this year and that he had chosen to call himself DJ Grandpa because “I like old people”.

When not DJing outside the Tube station, he plays in nightclubs and works as an artist. He claimed he had received “no rude comments ever from anyone” about his performances in Camden Town. The council introduced a new licensing system for buskers in March, which was challenged by the musicians in the Court of Appeal last week.

Jonny Walker, from the Keep Streets Alive, led an eight hour busking session before the hearing. He told the crowds: “Twelve months ago if you were to come to Camden you would find hundreds of musicians playing a wide variety of instruments. These days all you're getting in Camden is DJ Grandpa who got a licence from the council. He plays piped DJ music whilst dressed as a granddad and makes hundreds and hundreds of pounds a day to the exclusion of other people. What is Camden all about if it's not about spontaneity, freedom of expression, creativity, culture. This is one of the cradles and the incubators of the UK music industry and yet it's a criminal offence to play live music on the street.”

The group's request to appeal against the policy, however, was thrown out.

Council licensing chief Councillor Maryam Eslamdoust said: "I'm satisfied that the policy has been endorsed at every stage, Camden residents will sleep easier knowing that they are protected from the few irresponsible buskers who tried to give our vibrant street culture a bad name."