Beggars are to be banned from the streets. Tamash Lal talks to those behind the scheme and to some who will be affected by it

BEGGARS are to be banished from Swindon town centre.

Swindon Council has joined forces with the police to rid the area of vagrants.

According to police, all of the 18 drifters regularly spotted in the area are heroin addicts who beg to buy drugs.

Police say it can take as little as one hour for a beggar to raise the £10 needed to buy a bag of heroin and some have £100-a-day habits.

Instead of giving cash to beggars shoppers will be encouraged to support a new fund which will benefit local charities working with homeless people and drug addicts.

The long-term goal will be to open a day care centre for homeless addicts.

The clampdown is the first initiative to be launched under a new initiative called Swindon Street Safe.

The aim of the campaign is to tackle petty crime and disorderly behaviour which is blighting the town centre and deterring visitors.

Retailers say begging makes visitors view Swindon in a negative light, while the police say it increases the fear of crime.

Police say there has been a marked increase in begging recently six months ago there were just three or four people regularly on the streets.

There are also concerns that beggars who have been banned from Bristol where a similar scheme has been set up may have started heading for Swindon.

As a result, extra officers have been drafted in to police the town centre.

Part of their job is to gather evidence against persistent beggars so court orders such as Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and injunctions can be used to ban them from the retail centre.

Acting Sergeant Andy Alexander of Swindon police said the vast majority of beggars were not homeless and also claimed benefits.

He was keen to stress that the crackdown was a two-pronged attack on the problem.

"We do not just want to arrest them because they will simply come back," he said.

"We will be addressing the underlying causes, such as drug abuse."

Among the organisations working on the project are Threshold Housing and the Salvation Army's Davis House which both work with the homeless and rehabilitation charity Druglink.

Collection boxes for the new fund will be placed in shops, offices and churches.

The various groups will decide how to use the cash raised from donations.

The slogan of the initiative will be "Help give the homeless a permanent fix not a quick one."

Acting Sgt Alexander added: "We need to stop the public giving money to beggars because then there will be no point in them being there.

"People need to realise that they are just paying for their next fix.

"Begging is also very unpleasant for members of the public.

"Mums with young children in particular find it very frightening.

"These people are often a bit unsavoury and occasionally they are quite aggressive."

He said the Bristol scheme had been successful.

Bernie McGuire, of the Town Centre Management Unit, is also working closely on the project.

"The first thing many people see when they come to Swindon is homeless people sleeping in car parks, then they see beggars at the cashpoint machines," he said.

"This is the image we want to change."

At a meeting with retailers to launch the scheme there were concerns that the crackdown would lead to an increase in other crimes, such as car thefts and burglaries.

But Cheri Wright, of Swindon Council's crime and disorder team, said: "There is no evidence from Bristol to show that this is the case.

"The ultimate aim is to change people's offending behaviour."

l After the meeting the Advertiser spoke to two beggars in the subway linking Fleming Way and the Parade.

Both denied having drug problems and said they begged for food.

Anthony Taylor, 31, who has been homeless for eight months, said: "This is the first day I have had to beg for food.

"Before then I was selling stuff I found in skips at the back of shops.

"I get about £5 a day.There are lots of other beggars who are on drugs and I think this scheme is a good idea as it will help them."

John Richards, 34, has been homeless for nine years. He busks, playing tunes on a recorder.

"I reckon I make £5 a day and it buys food for me and my wife," he said.

"The trouble is that some beggars are aggressive, which gives us all a bad name.

"I am not doing any harm, so why should I be moved on?

"I have never touched drugs."

Tamash Lal