One Pound Fish singing market trader forced to leave UK

Mohammed Nazir, one-time English language student turned market trader and latterly famous after his catchy ‘One Pound Fish’ song went viral on YouTube, has now been deported.

Mohammed’s rags to riches and social media fame story began when he arrived from Pakistan on a student visa to study English at a London college. When the college went bust, Mohammed decided to stay on for a while and took a part-time job selling fish in Queens Market in London’s East End.

Never one to do things by halves, he composed a bizarre little song extolling the virtues of his fish, and his Bollywood accent and happy grin made him an immediate success with shoppers. His performance. filmed and uploaded onto You Tube, went viral in record time, resulting in an appearance on the X Factor and his being signed up by a record company.

Good news and bad news followed, with the good news being that his record soared to no.29 in the Christmas charts. The bad news was that his unexpected fame drew the attention of the UK Border Agency which, realising his student visa had long expired, informed him he’d have to leave.

Yesterday, he arrived back home after being kicked out of Britain until he can get his paperwork in order. Lahore Airport was the scene of a riotous welcome by hundreds of adoring fans and local politicians, all chanting ‘Long Live One Pound Fish’, and even the TV coverage of the anniversary of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto was interrupted to announce his arrival.

The cheerful ex-market trader is determined to continue his singing career, and is planning to take his song to the US and France in a bid for worldwide fame. Meanwhile, in the country which gave him his first chance, questions are being asked in the media as to why he was deported when Abu Qatada and his like are allowed to stay.

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