Chugger (charity muggers) banned in Birmingham with a new by law

‘Chuggers’ are set to be banned from Birmingham city centre after councillors backed a new by-law. Aggressive street fundraisers, colloquially known as charity muggers or ‘chuggers’ could be barred from approaching and following shoppers. The move follows an offer from representatives of Birmingham’s leading retail and business outlets to fund the cost of introducing the legislation.

Lawyers are now set to draft legislation before it goes before the full council and is then handed to Local Government Minister Eric Pickles for the final go-ahead. The proposed by-law will permit only passive collecting and ban collectors from approaching, following or obstructing pedestrians. Breaches could result in a fine of up to £500. But this could take several months before it is introduced.

The call for a by-law follows a survey of shoppers which revealed that 84 per cent said they were put off from walking around the city centre by the sheer number and persistence of chuggers. Nearly all of the 964 shoppers polled said they were against ‘chuggers’. Birmingham City Centre Partnership and Retail Birmingham, which represents city centre shops and business, had demanded that the collectors were banned or more closely regulated and offered to cover the £12,000 cost to bring in a by-law to ban high-pressure fund-raising.

Jonathan Cheetham, chair of Retail Birmingham, said: “This is a great step forward in the campaign to regulate face-to-face fundraisers in our city centre. For over a year we have worked closely with Birmingham City Council licensing to conduct a public consultation, which found that 93 per cent of respondents were in favour of stopping face-to-face fundraisers, as they negatively affected visitor experience. Committee chair Coun Barbara Dring (Lab, Oscott) stressed: “This is not to stop charities. It’s to stop nuisance and intimidation.”