Seaside resort tells homeless charity to move before town is ‘doomed’ by influx of rough sleepers
The chairman of Torquay Chamber of Commerce claims the rising numbers of homeless could 'spell the end' for the town
A HOMELESS charity has hit back at calls to clear Torquay’s streets of "intimidating" rough sleepers and beggars.
The chairman of Torquay Chamber of Commerce, Susie Colley, claims the coastal town could be "doomed" unless something is done to tackle the influx of homeless people.
Ms Colley claimed the work of local charity Humanity Torbay was even increasing problems by leading to a surge in rough sleepers.
In a email to local businesses, Ms Colley claimed shop takings were down and one store even had to close twice because rough sleepers were "intimidating shoppers".
And she points the finger at Ellie Waugh who runs Humanity Torbay - which works to help the homeless find housing, jobs and training.
In her message she said there had been a "10 per cent increase" in homelessness since Ms Waugh arrived in the seaside town.
She has now suggested Ms Waugh and her charity are asked to relocate, that the police presence be increased and the council or police publish those who have been banned from the town centre
However, some in the town have hit back at Ms Colley saying her words sound like "social cleansing".
And Ms Waugh defended her work saying: "'We are not a soup kitchen, we are a registered charity. We help everybody.
"Our motto and our constitution is that we are a charity for vulnerable and homeless people. We are seeing 300 people to 450 people a week.
"Last week we actually had over 500 people in. We have not encouraged people to sleep rough."
In her letter Ms Colley said: “To put it bluntly, unless something radical is done regarding the rough sleepers and begging, which is ongoing and is affecting these stores and impacting on their sales , they will close and that basically will be the end of Torquay.
“A lot of the high end consumers are so intimidated they voice concerns regarding those sitting outside the shops begging and clearly under the influence of drugs/drink etc and have hinted that unless the situation improves they will desist from shopping in Torquay.”
Her comments have been likened to the row in Windsor where the Tory-run council sparked outrage by suggesting homeless people should be cleared from its streets before the Royal Wedding in May.