Piano James to resume journey after arrest near Arbroath

A man known as Piano James is to restart a journey to Land’s End in October – after being arrested on the A92 near Arbroath last week.

James Tofalli was pulling his beloved piano from John O’Groats to Land’s End to raise money for mental health awareness.

But the busker was arrested and reported for various road traffic offences after being pulled over on the A92 near Abroath.

He told The Courier that his piano had been damaged in the incident, and he was forced to pay £150 to retrieve it after it was impounded by police.

James, 29, has now revealed his plans to restart his journey to Land’s End from the same spot on the A92 where he was arrested.

In an update on social media, he has revealed he will be setting off from Elliot roundabout with his piano, nicknamed Little Jeff, on October 1.

“The project is still on, but I’m taking some time out to mentally and physically prepare myself for the next leg of this journey,” he wrote.

“The plan is to be setting back off with Little Jeff at the same place I got lifted – might even use the cycle path.

“Would love to see as many of you locals there, who knows, might even get a tune outta me.”

Speaking previously, James said he planned to travel around locally after the piano was damaged.

He said: “I was on a mission heading towards Stirling where I’d been invited to play at a follower’s 40th birthday party.

“My piano is damaged to a point where I can’t take it there now because its unplayable.

Crowdfunder raises over £5,700

“So I’m now looking at staying around for the next few days and gathering a band to make this guy’s 40th as planned.”

He has now raised more than £5,700 through his crowdfunder, with plans for the money to be used to provide musical instruments for those struggling with mental health.

James previously spoke about how music helped him overcome addiction to the legal high spice.

“After a battle with myself I came away from it going cold turkey,” he said.

“The first place I kind of landed was St Pancras Station in London.

“Inside the station they’ve got public pianos and I sat there for a few hours and wrote a piece of music and for me that was a sort of transition in my life.

“Since then I’ve been a busker playing in places across England and Wales and I thought it was my time to give back and talk about my experiences in regards to the mental health problems I have had and the difficulties I have had with ADHD.”