In Torquay, stickers and posters have appeared in the town centre threatening street beggars that they will be photographed, and their photographs checked with the authorities to see if they are genuinely homeless
Charity bosses have slammed a ‘fake homeless’ campaign in a seaside town and compared it to driving people out of the ‘wild west’.
Businessman Ashley Sims has begun to photograph and challenge those people begging on the streets of Torquay, Devon, to see if they are ‘professional beggars’.
Police and the local council say it encourages vigilantism and there is a risk of people in genuine need being wrongly identified as ‘fake homeless’.
And John Hamblin, the chief executive of Shekinah Mission which runs Factory Row homeless hostel in Torquay, described the campaign as ‘outrageous’.
He said: ‘Put simply, it is just wrong on so many levels. I am amazed any charity would support it for so many reasons.
‘The man concerned keeps talking about how he is confirming people are homeless, I would question where he is getting the information from.
‘Charities or any organisation working with the homeless would not be sharing that information with him.
‘He is clearly making mistakes and ‘outing’ people who are genuinely homeless. It kind of feels a bit like the Wild West that we have got someone rounding people up in order to ship them out of town.
‘We know there are issues about begging, but there are ways of addressing that rather than naming and shaming people is just outrageous.
‘On every level, it is just wrong. Some of the comments on Facebook, the way individuals describe people on there, they should be ashamed of themselves.
‘Many people begging have complex needs. ‘
Stickers and posters have appeared in the town centre threatening street beggars they will be photographed, and their pictures checked with the authorities to see if they are genuinely homeless, or professional beggars exploiting the plight of others.
Like many areas, the so-called English Riviera has had problems with street drinkers taking ‘legal highs’ such as Spice.
Despite the criticism campaigners say it has been a huge success, and claim that the number of ambulance service call-outs to the Torquay town centre area had been slashed.
The campaign, being organised among others by Mr Sims, has seen homeless people in the town photographed, checked out with relevant charities, and those that they call professional beggars have been threatened that if they don’t leave the town, they will expose their identities.
The chairman of a long standing charity working with Torquay’s homeless has called the new campaign a ‘disgrace’
He said that of the 17 photographed people, only two were genuine street homeless.
But the chairman of the Friends of Factory Row Nick Pannell has also dubbed it a disgrace.
He said: ‘This persecuting of vulnerable adults on our streets is a disgrace and those involved in encouraging it should be ashamed of themselves.’
And a group which helps the homeless says it will put people in danger.
The charity PATH (Paignton Assisting Torbay’s Homeless) said in a statement: ‘PATH will never support anything that uses unverified information to put very complex and vulnerable people in danger.
‘We were recently approached and consequently met with a person who heads this campaign. It quickly became apparent that their scheme is littered with pitfalls.
Ellie Waugh (left) is the founder and chairman of Humanity Torbay who have launched a new campaign called Killing with Kindness
The Killing with Kindness campaign was started to urge people not to give money to beggars and instead give it to charities who provide food and clothing
‘Many of these were pointed out but sadly none of these have been heeded as yet.’
Torbay police inspector Si Jenkinson added: ‘The dangerous practice of ‘outing’ people as professional criminals based on often unverifiable information fails to acknowledge the very complex vulnerabilities and chaotic lives of those concerned.’