Organised begging is prolific on both the Marylebone side and Hyde Park side of Edgware Road.
Your Councillors were most surprised to learn that the Labour-led Council has not called for this area to become a Community Protection Zone. When requested, this has to be enacted by the Police and whilst not a panacea enables the Police to remove anyone that has already been served with a Community Protection Notice from the area.
We continue to press the Police and the Council to take action.
One of your Councillors sits on the Edgware Road Strategy and Operations Group, comprising the police, Council, the Portman Estate and the Church Commissioners. Priorities now are to design and have agreed a new multi-agency approach to dealing with crime, anti -social behaviour and the entrenched communities on Edgware Road. Many of the 'beggars' are regulars and some of their names are actually known, together with photos of them and some of them also have homes to live in!