Busker's Christmas market heckler song gets 560,000 views

A Christmas market busker who came under fire from a female heckler has seen his response go viral on Facebook.

Darren Williams, from Handsworth, is shown refusing to give his microphone to the passer-by while performing on New Street, Birmingham on Saturday.

A video taken by an onlooker, which shows Mr Williams giving a freestyle performance in response to the heckler, has had 560,000 views online.

Mr Williams, who is known as Singing D, said buskers have to be thick-skinned.

'Be polite'

He told the BBC: "[The woman] kept shouting my music was terrible and told me to go home.

"She repeatedly tried to take the microphone from me.

"I thought rather than be rude to her, I would sing freestyle."

In his performance, he tells the woman: "Your words don't have no effect" and she should go and get a coffee.

"[The words] just came to me," he said.

"As a busker, these moments are few and far between but you have to be thick-skinned."

Darren Williams was performing near Birmingham's Christmas market, on New Street

He said he was surprised by the reaction on social media but added: "I think the lesson for me is it's important to conduct oneself appropriately when in the public domain because you never know when half a million plus people will be watching.

"My grandmother taught me to be polite and have manners, and that's a lesson I've taken into my adult life."

Onlooker Rosie Butler, who shot the video, said she was "overwhelmed" with the reaction on social media.

"I was filming it way before all the commotion started [because] I like that kind of music," she said.

"[Darren] made the best of a bad situation and I take my hat off to him for that."