Saturday, January 31, 2009
A dancing street sweeper has left Britain fearing for his life, saying he was beaten up by racist thugs.
Ziggy Dust, from Poland, told friends he was leaving because National Front members had attacked and threatened to kill him.
The London cleaner shot to public attention when YouTube clips showed him dancing as he collected rubbish in Chiswick.
Film crews descended on the borough to see the 47-year-old strut his stuff and one national newspaper used him in its advertising campaign.
But after three years in Britain, Ziggy - christened Zbigniew Colbecki - is now back in Poland.
Writing on a web forum, he said: 'I'm outside of England because someone wanted to kill me before New Year.
'I feel very sad. Not everyone was happy.
'Someone hated me very much and my dancing. I miss Chiswick. I left England without choice.'
Ziggy, a former circus juggler had also been DJ-ing in a Chiswick bar owned by Sam Harrison.
Mr Harrison said: 'Ziggy came to see me last week and collected his equipment. He had decided to leave for Poland the next morning.
'He told me that he had been attacked and threatened by a faction of the National Front and felt unsafe.
'He said that it had happened over the Christmas period and that he did not think the police could help him.
'Somebody had scared him. I could see the fear in his eyes.'
Chiswick resident Kieran Loughran, 39, said: 'It was extraordinary how famous Ziggy became but it didn't change him and he was always happy to show off his moves.'
Hounslow council said it had not been aware of any threats against Ziggy.