St Annes in Lancashire, with its pristine high street and chic boutiques, has become an attractive spot for beggars. Police have raised concerns that professional beggars are flocking to affluent tourist areas like Lytham and St Annes because of their wealthy local residents and retirees. Last week, police in nearby Fylde admitted that "people will travel to this area from other locations as they are well known in their hometown for criminal activity".
Both locals and tourists in St Annes and Lytham reported a rise in street begging. Visitors Mr and Mrs Thompson from Clitheroe said the town's wealthier, older demographic might be targets, telling the Manchester Evening News that "there are beggars everywhere now". While the Thompsons have offered food and drink to those on the streets, they said they refrain from giving money as they don't know what it's spent on.
Local shopper Bill said he noticed "homeless people" performing music in Lytham, appreciating that "at least they're doing something for the money.
He added: "Sometimes we give some food or the odd bit of change but it depends. It's not hard to see why professional beggars might want to target St Annes."
"You do see it here but you see it everywhere," remarked Steven Aiken, who's lived in Blackpool and St Annes for 37 years.
Gillian from St Annes said she's aware of situations where well-meaning strangers have been dismissed after offering help.
She said: "One elderly neighbour of mine was in Blackpool near Marks and Spencer and she very generously bought him a sandwich. He then basically told her to f*** off."
Raymond Bassinger from Doncaster is also all too familiar with the issue of beggars exploiting the generosity of strangers.
He told LancsLive: "I was approached by a bloke, he was polite and well-spoken, and he said he was hungry. I gave him some money for a fish and chips and before I knew it another guy came up to me and said 'what about me?'"
The number of people sleeping rough across the Fylde region, which covers Lytham and St Annes, has risen in recent years.
The council's Homelessness Prevention Strategy found that 30% of households that approached the authority as homeless in 2017-18 were accepted.
When the Homeless Reduction Act in 2018 mandated councils to offer support to any household at risk of homelessness within 56 rather than 28 days, 227 households presented as homeless, with 30 (13%) accepted.
