SHOP owners in Frome are raising the profile of ‘aggressive begging’ in the town centre as 51 have signed a petition for the behaviour to be stopped, following reports of threats and abuse.
At a full town council meeting on Wednesday 17th May, cllr Mel Usher highlighted the issue following a special meeting that shop owners called for last month, where they presented the petition to cllr Mel Usher, cllr Mark Dorrington and the Neighbourhood Police team.
At a full town council meeting, a shop owner on Catherine Hill defined ’aggressive begging’ and said, “Elderly people are being approached for money and being threatened that they will be hit if they don’t hand over money, or spat on, if they don’t hand over money. That’s what we call aggressive begging. These people involved have been offered help by various organisations. They have declined the help, they choose this way of life and it is pulling the town down. We have customers coming into our shop saying ‘we have just had an awful experience in the car park’. I say ‘report it to the police’ every time someone tells me something in my shop, the more information they have got, they can do more to stop this. Frome is a lovely town and just a few individuals are really giving it a bad name – it needs to be stopped.”
Cllr Mel Usher said, “Aggressive begging is something that intimidates local residents and deters them from going about their daily lives. In addition, a consequence of this is that people are less likely to go shopping and this can have a negative impact on local businesses, as well as presenting a negative image of the town centre.
“The police are doing what they can with the resources they have. For the police to do more, they need more resources and for senior officers to prioritise this type of anti-social behaviour. To access more resources, the police need data in the form of incidents reported by the community. We understand that the police are leafleting local businesses, encouraging them to do this.”
PC Kayleigh Lunn, of the Frome Neighbourhood Team said, “We recently attended a meeting with business owners and councillors where concern around the impact of begging in Frome town centre was raised with us. It was explained to us that this issue had become increasingly problematic over recent months, making members of the public and business owners feel intimidated.
“We are mindful of the vulnerabilities some of these individuals are experiencing and will work with partner organisations regarding their welfare.
“Where we have identified individuals who are alleged to have caused harassment to the public, we are taking proactive action, including serving begging letters which outline the behaviour which is causing distress, but crucially details of organisations who can offer support to help them. A criminal behaviour order is also being sought with respect to one individual.
“We have written to all businesses to make them aware of how such incidents can be reported to police, primarily via our website or 101 if a non-emergency.
“Reports help us to take proactive action where necessary and to ensure our officer and Police Community Support Officer patrols target the areas of most community concern, to continue to make Frome a safe place to live and work.”
Pictured: Stony Street in Frome Town Centre.
