A man was today banned from Norwich city centre for persistent begging, as police pledge to carry out extra patrols over the weekend to address anti-social behaviour.
The 38-year-old, who has a registered home address, was the latest person to be issued with a Section 35 order, banning him from the city centre within the inner ring road.
It includes the exemption of attending City Reach, which provides healthcare services for people who find it difficult to visit mainstream GP services, at 3pm and the soup kitchen between 8pm and 9pm over the next two days.
MORE: Is Norfolk Police's crackdown on aggressive begging in Norwich the right approach?The planned extra patrols form part of work ongoing to tackle issues of aggressive begging and associated anti-social behaviour, including street drinking, urinating and abusive language.
The matter was made a priority for the Norwich East Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT), following an online public vote, which more than 400 people took part in.
MORE: Norwich street begging crackdown: Police issue 10 notices to leave the cityA dispersal order has been put in place in Norwich within the inner ring road for the weekend to help officers tackle the problem.
The order was in place last weekend and resulted in 10 Section 35 notices being issued, and four arrests for drug, begging, public order and breach of court order offences.
Under the orders, people are still able to access services.
Sgt Mark Shepherd, from the Norwich East SNT, said: 'We will continue with our effort to resolve the issues with anti-social behaviour in the city centre; simply ignoring these complaints is not an option for us.
MORE: Public vote for police to crackdown on aggressive beggars in Norwich'Clearly a lot of the issues associated with begging are complex and will not be solved overnight which is why are working with partners at Norwich City Council and support organisations to provide help to those who need it the most.'
This dispersal authority will run from Saturday morning through to Sunday evening and allows officers to issue direction to leave notices immediately without getting authority from a supervising officer.
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