HELP is out there - that is the message from police to beggars and people sleeping rough on the streets of York.

People continued to sleep on the streets as temperatures dropped below freezing, but officers urged them to get help.

Inspector Richard Crinnion, of York Police, said information and advice was being distributed at local drop-in centres to let people know that help was out there.

The Press told in November how officers were patrolling the streets to tackle the city's begging hotspots as part of Operation Contour - a clampdown on beggars who were treating York as a "soft touch".

Police aimed to reassure people who felt intimidated by rough sleepers, get homeless people the help they needed, and put paid to the idea that York is an "easy mark" for beggars.

The operation was declared a success but Insp Crinnion said begging was still a problem in the city.

He said: "Whether begging is ever going to stop I don't know. We prosecute people, but then they can't pay so it's sort of like a wheel we can't stop really.

"If someone gets fined for begging then they might go out and beg to pay the fine.

"The message that we are trying to put out is to go and get help.

"A lot of begging is linked to drug addiction but help is available from places like Compass."

Police and the City of York Council are installing a series of "begging boxes" across the city centre, where people can donate money which will be used to help the homeless through projects and charities such as the Salvation Army, without giving cash directly to people on the streets.

As part of Operation Contour, six beggars were arrested in just three nights, and seven or eight more asked to sign consent forms to secure them help for substance abuse and homelessness.

But two of those caught begging were not even genuinely homeless.

Officers focused their attention in Shambles, Stonegate, Whipmawhopmagate, Nessgate corner, St Stephen's Square, High Petergate, Coney Street, Library Square, Bridge Street, Bootham Bar and George Hudson Street - all notorious rough sleeping hotspots.