Homeless persons are being subjected to hundreds of pounds in fines for loitering and begging in England and Wales, despite guidelines from the home office for councils to avoid targeting those sleeping rough under Public Space Protection Orders.
Under these laws homeless persons have been banned from city centres and given fines, in some cases up to 1100 pounds, for acts such as persistent begging.
A Guardian freedom of information request found at least 51 people have been convicted of breaching these orders since their introduction in 2014 as part of a crackdown on antisocial behaviour by then home secretary Theresa May.
Rosie Brighouse, a lawyer from the Liberty advocacy group says the laws are ripe for misuse by over-zealous councils wanting to sweep inconveniences off their streets.