A FRIEND of some homeless people who beg in York has spoken out against claims they are “intimidating” and “scruffy”.

Luke Elliott, a student at the University of York who works with Food Not Bombs - a group which cooks free food, and is used by some homeless people in the city, has responded to comments Cllr Ashley Mason made during a City of York Council meeting.

Lib Dem Cllr Mason said: “It’s not just Saturday nights, most nights of the week you can walk out 10, 11 or 12 o’clock at night and walk past five, six or seven people that are sat there begging.

“The city is looking really scruffy and it’s really intimidating.

“I think there is a hell of a lot of people out there begging and it seems to be something that is over-running the city on a night time.”

Mr Elliott said Cllr Mason’s comments were unhelpful. He said: “The council has declared war on the homeless rather than homelessness. One example are the benches with the bars in Rougier Street, which were to stop people sleeping on there...It was a misunderstanding by the councillor and more than anything it’s indicative of the attitude that isn’t helpful, and that causes problems.”

Mr Elliott also disputed claims made by others that most beggars also have comfortable lifestyles and are on the streets to make some extra cash.

He added: “If the best way forward is to go out on the streets and collect money then surely that shows a problem with how we are approaching things.

“There are a lot of risks that go with begging. We have got charitable resources which are quite good, but there’s also this power dynamic that means if something goes wrong it’s quite damaging.

“A person on the streets sees themselves at the bottom and it’s easier for them to just fall off.”