Clutching a child’s crutch in one hand and desperately proffering the other, he looks a hopeless case well deserving of charity.

But what the kind-hearted locals handing him their loose change probably don’t know is that hours before this man was spotted the centre of Cambridge, he had driven into the city, fed a parking meter with eight hours’ worth of coins and walked a mile to the site of his begging.

Two other beggars also travelled with him in the Volkswagon Passat estate on Saturday morning.

The three beggars travelled in a Volkswagon Passat estate to Cambridge on Saturday morning

The group walked together to the outskirts of Cambridge’s shopping arcades, before separating to avoid working the same areas.

They left their left-hand drive car - which bears Romanian licence plates - in a residential road and did not bother to remove their Sat Nav device from its charging cradle on the dashboard.

The parking ticket displayed in the window showed that they had paid for the maximum allowed eight hours, from 9am to 5pm.

Locals reacted with shock and disgust at the revelations that the trio had been feigning homelessness, but said that they were known to operate regularly in the city

The parking ticket showed they had paid for a full eight hours, from 9am to 5pm

When confronted on whether he was homeless, the man claimed that he was Italian and added ‘I do not speak English’.

Questioned further, he confirmed that he had driven into the city that day, but his disability did not prevent him from using a car.

Locals reacted with shock and disgust at the revelations that the trio had been feigning homelessness, but said that they were known to operate regularly in the city.

Locals reacted with shock and disgust at the revelations that the trio (one pictured here) had been feigning homelessness, but said that they were known to operate regularly

Lisa Jay, 65, a volunteer with the British Red Cross, said: ‘I have seen the man with the stick try his luck with myself and others as they walk into the bank. I have previously told him as I walked into the supermarket, “I have no change”.

‘After I left with my shopping, he was confrontational and spoke in English.

‘They look to target the students who have some spare change and don’t want the hassle of turning them down. They bark at the kids – it’s easy prey to them.’

While it is unclear whether the man was disabled in this instance, locals have queried the matter.

A neighbour living close to where the beggars parked their car added that they were so successful that on ‘most days’ the car could be seen parked in the same spot as its owners worked the streets.

Asma Begum, 34, said: ‘I saw the group getting out of their car earlier this week, most days in fact.

‘When I have seen them, it appeared odd that the man with the disability walked using a child’s crutch.

‘I had never thought that they were homeless, as I had seen them get out of the car and wait around before walking off. It’s not like there’s any bus routes on the road to wait for.

‘If you had a child’s crutch I do not see how you could walk that far into town.’

Both Cambridge Constabulary and Cambridge City Council did not respond to requests for comment last night.