UK beggar gang take shifts cashing in 1000’s from scared drivers at site visitors lights
A councillor in a Midlands town has claimed some beggars in his area are ‘organised’ and live in accommodation.
Walsall Conservative councillor Garry Perry said that while some beggars are genuine, the ones stationed at a junction on Lichfield Street, near the local arboretum are ‘organised’ and have been witnessed doing a shift handover. He said they have places to live, and if any didn’t, they would be offered accommodation by the council’s street teams.
Speaking to BBC West Midlands presenter Kath Stanczyszyn, he said: “Businesses, traders and residents are fearing the affects of organised begging. There are genuine cases within that, however, in certain locations, such as the junction by Walsall Arboretum, it’s organised and there’s a rota and people have witnessed the change over.
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“These individuals do have places to live and those who haven’t would be offered it anyway. They’re winding themselves in and out of the traffic.
“Sometimes they are threatening toward individuals who don’t want to donate. We are trying through relevant laws to have a public space court order banning the individuals.”
Matt Ward, leader of Walsall Council, said: “We’ve heard these kinds of comments before from previous leaders about tackling the beggars, but the problem has got worse. It isn’t just at the traffic lights, it’s down the high street, in the shop doorways. People should feel safe coming into Walsall but it’s simply not happening.”
A Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) is a court order that gives councils the power to impose restrictions in a specific public space to tackle anti-social behaviour. Councillor Perry said several PSPOs have been put in place this year, but getting one isn’t ‘straightforward’ and can take up to six months to secure.
He said: “It’s not as straight forward as saying I want to do it now, then do it, you have to go through a process. You have to outline a boundary which the individuals can operate outside of. These individuals are working outside of the boundary. It’s a very challenging issue.”
The Labour leader called on members of the public to come forward with evidence to support the council in securing future court orders.
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