Wardens have been spotted speaking to homeless people just days after a Tory council leader called for police to clear rough-sleepers from the streets before the Royal wedding.
The community wardens have been seen patrolling the streets and speaking to homeless people in all-black uniforms.
One Twitter user posted a picture of two wardens alongside a police officer checking in on a homeless person lying in a doorway.
Mr Gratton, who lives in Windsor, claimed that the community wardens, who allegedly walk in ‘circles’ around a 300m area where the homeless are sat, only began appearing last Wednesday or Thursday.
Community wardens (pictured) have allegedly begun patrolling the streets near areas homeless people frequent
The claims come the same day as Tory council leader Simon Dudley apologised for his comments saying that police should clear the streets of rough sleepers before the Royal Wedding.
The Windsor and Maidenhead council leader also said he regretted bringing up the marriage of Prince Harry to American actress Meghan Markle.
In a series of tweets last week, Mr Dudley said beggars could present the town in a ‘sadly unfavourable light’ during the wedding and complained in a letter to police about ‘aggressive begging and intimidation’ and ‘bags and detritus’ on the streets.
One Twitter user tweeted a photo of two community wardens and a police officer talking to a homeless person in Windsor yesterday. The council confirmed they were offered long-term temporary accommodation
He has now said he wants to draw a distinction between the ‘abomination’ of homelessness, and ‘commercial’ begging (Pictured: A homeless person sleeping in a bus stop in Windsor)
He originally sidestepped calls to apologise despite attracting criticism from Prime Minister Theresa May and homeless charities, one of which described his comments as ‘sickening’.
But six days after he originally referred to ‘an epidemic of rough sleeping and vagrancy’, Mr Dudley said he wanted to draw a distinction between the ‘abomination’ of homelessness, and ‘commercial’ begging.
Council leader Simon Dudley called on police to clear rough sleepers from Windsor before the Royal wedding. He has now said he was not referring to genuine homeless people
He claimed beggars who are not homeless set up pitches in Windsor to run a ‘commercial enterprise’ exploiting tourists.
The council leader told The Andrew Peach Show on BBC Radio Berkshire: ‘I would like to apologise if I was not clear enough in my communication that this was an issue about anti-social behaviour, and if that message failed to get across the responsibility for that is firmly with me.
‘And look, I’m steadfast that the council will continue to provide comprehensive support for vulnerable residents or anyone who’s visiting us.’
Asked why he brought up the royal wedding, Mr Dudley said: ‘I wouldn’t have done on reflection. I wouldn’t have put a hashtag in a tweet that said Royal Wedding. I would not have done that. I think that allowed people to look at it in a certain way when it really wasn’t about that.
On December 27 Mr Dudley tweeted that ‘people are marching tourists to cash points to withdraw cash in Windsor’
‘What it was about was not the wedding, but the circumstances which bring about anti-social behaviour, i.e. the size of the opportunity to commercially (beg) is going to grow in Windsor.
‘It wasn’t the wedding, it was the fact that the situation is deteriorating, clearly, and in my view, and consulting with other colleagues as well, is something which is going to get worse given that there will be more people there.
‘More people with more money means more people trying to earn money.’
Glenn Gratton claims that this morning he witnessed two council officials approach a homeless man who lives outside Barclays Bank opposite Windsor castle.
The council official spoke with the homeless man before handing him eviction papers for a flat he used to live in in the city centre.
Mr Gratton said: ‘He used to have a flat in Windsor until he fell into rent arrears, he had a couple of social issues and he tried to make amends but ultimately the police chucked him out the flat.
‘The council couldn’t evict him legally until they went to court, and they needed to find him to hand him the eviction notice. Because of the media attention they’ve found him on TV, they then had court papers drawn up and they handed them to him.’
A Windsor and Maidenhead council spokesperson said: ‘The photo outside the former Morrisons store in Windsor shows community wardens conducting welfare checks with a rough sleeper and ensuring they are signposted to the relevant services.
‘In this instance the individual was yesterday offered a long-term emergency accommodation placement within the borough by the council’s housing options team.
‘Council officers would not be involved in an eviction process and we do not comment on the details of vulnerable people who have been identified through the media.’
Mr Gratton claims a council official approached the homeless man who lives outside Barclays Bank in Windsor opposite the castle this morning with eviction papers (pictured)