THE famous generosity of the Belfast public is bringing "opportunistic" people on to the streets to take advantage of their kindness.

Sandra Moore, director of homelessness at the Welcome Organisation in Belfast, said she was concerned that the good intentions of shoppers and workers could be exploited in the run-up to Christmas.

"The generosity of the public and business community is amazing and we couldn't continue our work without it," she said, "but that same generosity is causing issues in the city and is contributing to the number of people we are seeing on our streets.

"People in Belfast are extremely generous - it is one of the most generous cities you will ever come across - but our concern is the number of people it brings on to the streets who don't need to be there and who are taking advantage."

While not wishing to "demonise" people for begging nor discourage others from giving, Ms Moore said it is difficult for members of the public to ascertain genuine cases.

"I think it is very hard for people but I think one way to get around the problem is to make giving more targeted," she said.

"Giving to credited homeless charities, for instance, means there is a fair distribution and that the help ends up where it should - with people in genuine need."

The charity official said the growth in people on the streets had become "visible, dramatic and quite significant" when there were actually only "around 20" truly homeless people unable to access accommodation.

"This is still 20 too many; people who are in genuine need," she said.

"There is also a significant number of foreign nationals on the streets because they are also in need and have no redress to public funds.

"The problem has become worse since legislation was amended a year ago which restricts the right of foreign nationals to seek benefits after a certain time period."

She said the 'bogus' homeless cross all cultural groupings.

"People find themselves homeless for a raft of reasons including fear of being under the care of homeless projects, mental ill health and also the fact that many have their own "community" on the streets," Ms Moore added.

"We see four distinct groups - genuine homeless who can't access accommodation, street drinkers, foreign nationals with no access to public funds and 'opportunistic' people."

Despite this, Ms Moore stressed that charities were ready and willing to help, with the Welcome Organisation providing three meals a day as well as laundry facilities and showers for those in need.

"The Welcome Organisation is open from 8am until 10pm for shelter, meals and clothes at no cost," she said.

"We have tea and coffee 'on tap' and we simply couldn't operate without public donations."