A POSTER campaign will be launched in Swindon town centre next month to urge shoppers not to give money to beggars.

The scheme is part of the Street Safe project unveiled earlier in the year.

Under the plans, instead of money being given to vagrants, well-meaning shoppers can put it in yellow collection boxes dotted around the major stores in Swin-don.

The posters will feature the slogan Choose the way to give, pointing out that up to 90 per cent of money given to beggars can end up in the hands of drug dealers.

Money donated through the collection boxes will be given to groups working with the home-less such as Davis House and Threshold Housing Link. The long-term aim is to open a perm-anent day centre for the homeless.

Swindon's town centre manager Bernie Maguire said: "We are hoping to build up to this gradually so it will be effective.

"The posters will go up in bus shelter type adverts around town."

So far there are collection boxes in stores including BHS, House of Fraser, Woolworth's, Sains-bury's, WH Smith and Deben-hams. Mr Maguire said that more will be added in libraries and leisure centres across Swindon.

Another part of the Street Safe campaign will see more outlines drawn around cashpoint machines to provide an exclusion zone.

This not only stops beggars from sitting next to them but also reduces the chance of fraud through tricks such as the Lebanese Loop. This sees a device inserted in a cashpoint which makes a card get seemingly stuck in a machine. The offender offers help, gets to read the PIN being entered again by the victim, and then, after the victim walks off leaving the stuck card, the offender pulls out the device, and the card and also has the PIN.

So far two boxes have been drawn, at Abbey National in Regent Street and Nationwide in The Parade.

While Mr Maguire said the feedback about the boxes had been good, the organisers of Street Safe are not happy with the paint used as it has smudged, and are looking at using thermoplastic coating instead when drawing boxes at other banks.

Mr Maguire said: "We want to make sure that it looks as good as possible."

Exclusion zones are likely to be drawn around other cashpoints next month.

When Street Safe was launched in June, police said that of the 18 beggars regularly seen in Swindon town centre, all were on heroin and begging for their next fix.

A similar Street Safe scheme started in Bristol has been hailed a success.

Tom Morton