A series of complaints made by shops and members of the public has caused police to take action against people who are sat outside of premises begging for money from members of the public.
Between Thursday 03 October and Saturday 16 November police in North East Lincolnshire have received 40 separate calls in relation to people who have been seen begging for money and this raises concerns with the public and shops.
As police look to reduce anti social behaviour and incidents of shop theft during the Christmas period, and beyond, officers will be targeting those people who sit begging and, police will also be asking people when they give them money do they really know what it is for?
Acting Sgt Simon DUFFIELD said: "The calls made to police in relation to people begging is causing us real concern and we want to let the people of North East Lincolnshire know we are proactively doing something to address these concerns.
"I would like to ask people that when you give to these people who are begging do you really know what you are giving money for? A lot of them claim to be homeless and need money to survive, when the majority of them are taking your hard earned cash to feed a drink and drug habit. So you might want to think twice next time you see them in the street or outside a shop.
"A lot of these people are also known to police for other criminal offences, so by telling police when you see somebody begging you could be helping us out. It is a criminal offence to go begging and we can't be in a number of places at once, so if you see people doing it then let us know. We will be targeting known locations throughout the Christmas period to help tackle offences and provide reassurance to the public.
“Police work closely with a number of agencies to ensure that people across North East Lincolnshire are not left in homeless state. These people, who sit begging often chose not to accept this assistance and have taken to a life of crime. Police are working to help reduce these number of offenders, however the calls for service we are receiving in relation to begging does seem to be increasing.”
On Sunday 16 November police arrested three people for begging on Victoria Street in Grimsby. Two people have been charged and will be appearing at Grimsby Mags Court in early December and the other was released without charge.
Of the 40 calls that were made to police between 03 October 2013 and 16 November 2013, 22 of those came from Cleethorpes and the other 18 from a number of locations across Grimsby.
Anyone who may wish to report an offence of begging to Humberside Police can do so by calling Humberside Police tel 101.