Police in Stirling, Scotland, say beggars in city are pretending to be homeless

They then go on to use the money to buy alcohol and drugs, claims new report

Officers say they spotted some of those begging appeared to own £500 iPhones

Said: 'No person begging is homeless - they have homes provided by council'

Stirling had a £1.2m hostel for the homeless officially opened back in 2008

Police in Scotland claim beggars in a busy city centre are lying about being homeless in order to scrounge 'hundreds of pounds a week' from shoppers.

Officers began an investigation amid complaints about antisocial behaviour in Stirling city centre and claim they found some of the 'beggars' own £500 iPhones.

ADVERTISEMENT

The number of people begging in the city centre increased during the run-up to Christmas with people asking shoppers for money in the main shopping areas of Murray Place, Port Street and Upper Craigs.

Police officers began an investigation amid complaints about antisocial behaviour in Stirling city centre and claim they found some of the 'beggars' own £500 iPhones (file image)

A police report, compiled by one of the area's community officers, was presented to members of the local community council and said: 'We continue to have persons begging and appearing to be homeless.

'I can confirm that no person begging in the city is homeless. They have a home provided to them by the council.

Click here to resize this module

'The persons who are begging are, in fact, making hundreds of pounds a week and are spending this on drugs and alcohol. Some even have £500 iPhones.

'It continues to be our intention to clamp down robustly on these individuals every day we are on duty.'

Police in Stirling, Scotland (pictured) say beggars in city are pretending to be homeless

It says also: 'Due to our persistence, we have made great inroads into 'cleaning up' Stirling city centre in relation to persons sleeping rough, drinking alcohol, causing a general nuisance and disorder.

'Some of the main offenders are currently on bail [with a condition] not to enter Stirling City centre during retail hours and some are banned from entering the city centre at any time.'

According to a report on the community council meeting in a local paper [The Stirling Observer] Inspector Donna Bryans, of Police Scotland, said she knew of the comments made in the report and was aware of one individual who, while begging, was pretending to be homeless but had been allocated a council flat.

ADVERTISEMENT

She added: 'The officers believe the comments made in the report are right. They are in the city centre all the time and were working there during the entire month of December. They had a lot of interactions during that month.'