9 August 2012 Last updated at 07:25 ET

York Sweet Story cafe plan withdrawn

Kings Square has been popular with street entertainers for more than 30 years

Controversial plans by a museum to create an outdoor cafe in a York square have been dropped.

Kings Square has been used by street performers for more than 30 years and they claimed the plan could have prevented them from performing.

Campaigners collected more than 5,000 signatures on a petition opposing the cafe plans.

York's Sweet Story said it had decided to withdraw its planning application to "take the heat out of the situation".

The attraction, which opened at Easter, had applied for planning permission for up to eight tables in the square.

Escapologist Rob Roy Collins, who led the Save Kings Square campaign, said: "We are very relieved. This was never a fight we wanted to have.

"We need to move forward now and they do need to build bridges with their neighbours."

Continuum, which owns the museum, said it had never intended to force entertainers out of the square but said its case for sharing the square had "clearly not been fully heard".