REVEALED: '˜Professional beggars' are making as much as £70 a day in Blackpool

It’s an experience we have all had, an approach from someone asking for a pound for a cup of tea or a bus ride home.

Do you reach for your purse or turn away?

It is difficult to know who is in genuine need, and who is just an opportunist.

Especially when it is claimed some so-called ‘professional’ beggars are earning up to £70 a day on the streets of Blackpool.

Meanwhile enforcement chiefs are currently prosecuting 20 persistent beggars who it is alleged are harrassing people.

But with around a third of those on the streets being genuinely homeless, Blackpool Council also helps around 1,000 people a year back into accommodation either here or by returning them to their home town.

And with tough economic conditions leading to more people facing difficult times, housing chiefs want to ensure support is directed to those in real need.

Latest figures show there has been an increase of 11 per cent in rough sleepers in Blackpool, a trend being seen around the country.

Coun Christine Wright, cabinet member for housing on Blackpool Council, says if people are approached for money, they are better off donating cash to one of the organisations helping homeless people in the town.

She said: “When a beggar approaches someone, they really want the cash and it’s hard for people not to give money.

“But if they have a conscience there are other ways of helping homeless people.

“They can donate food or money to organisations such as the Blackpool Food Partnership.

“The council does all it can to support genuinely homeless people, but if beggars are aggressive and persistent, they will be referred to the courts to be dealt with.

“We don’t want people to feel the town centre is unsafe and that we have these people aggressively begging.”

Currently around 20 beggars are going through the court process in Blackpool.

Tim Coglan, head of public protection at Blackpool Council, says action will be taken against those who harass and intimidate passers-by.

Powers such as public space protection orders and community protection warnings are used to control those who overstep the mark.

He said: “There are professional beggars in Blackpool who are causing intimidation or harassment to members of the public.

“Begging is illegal and we have prosecuted people who do have accommodation and are even owner-occupiers who come to the town to work as a beggar.

“The money they make can be sizeable. We are aware of one beggar who regularly takes his cash to a retail outlet to change into notes and sometimes it has been as much as £70 in a day.

“At night time, it can be even more lucrative when people are in high spirits.

“One place beggars congregate at is the toilets on Central Car Park. When people get off the buses, they charge them before they can go into the public toilets.

“Some will purport to have issues they don’t have, for example by rocking backwards and forwards.

“It is one of the most complained about issues at public meetings and business forums in the town, and we will robustly enforce the law.”

• To report someone as homeless, call 01253 477908

• Go to www.blackpoolfoodpartnership.org.uk to find out more about their work

• To report aggressive begging call 01253 477477