A COLOURFUL Manchester character or a truly awful busker who makes shoppers cringe and keeps his neighbours awake at night?

Opinion is divided on Marc Bolan, who changed his name in honour of the legendary frontman of glam-rockers T-Rex.

Marc has become as much a part of city centre landscape as the cathedral after 18 years busking on the streets.

Marc's next-door neighbour Russell Martin says his monotone din has disrupted his sleep more times than he can remember over the six years they have been neighbours at the Trafford Court council flats in Lucy Street, Old Trafford.

"It's got so bad, I'm moving out," said Russell, a 41-year-old dispatch rider.

He has kept a log since September, detailing 80 noise disturbances in just four months. It has been handed to Trafford council environmental health officers.

"He's like a headless chicken,"said Russell. "It's absolutely horrendous. He plays T-Rex material but he just sounds like a dinosaur. That's about as close as it gets.

"The council has told me it will install a noise monitor ands evict him if the noise levels are proven."

Russell, father of two girls aged six and seven, has asked to be moved to alternative accommodation.

The last straw came during a disturbance on January 8. Police are investigating after a brick was thrown through Russell's window.

Marc defended himself and his music when the M.E.N. found him busking, as usual, in the city centre.

Denying being inconsiderate, he said: "I do sometimes play music quite late when I have friends round. I am not excessively loud and I am not a bad neighbour."

He currently plays outside Boots on Market Street, in direct competition with a string mini-orchestra.

For some, his distinctive two-chord renditions, frantic strumming and erratic hollers give a new meaning to the word "thrash".

To others, he is another vital note in the offbeat melody of Mancunian life.

A Trafford council spokesman declined to comment on the allegations of noise nuisance.

What do you think of Marc's music?