I HAVE thought of a simple, but effective plan to reduce the number of beggars on York streets. As people have no doubt realised, arresting and fining beggars only encourages them to continue clogging up our streets. A much more direct plan would be to make it a criminal offence for people to give them any money.
Gifts of food and water would be acceptable, this would also separate the truly needy from those who would leech off the goodwill of this city and its tourists.
Christopher Elmer,
The Reeves,
York.
Updated: 10:44 Thursday, September 11, 2003
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