Increasing numbers of retailers in Brighton are complaining about charity workers who stop shoppers to persuade them to sign up to standing order charitable donations.

Face-to-face fund-raising has become one of the leading technique for charities but the workers are paid by private agencies.

Shop owners have been complaining about the number of workers and the techniques they have been using to attract people's attention.

Unlike Big Issue sellers, they are not confined to a particular pitch and tend to work the same locations week after week.

Retailers have argued they depress trade because shoppers are reluctant to invite the attention of charity workers as they walk past them to enter a shop.

The problem has reached a point where city-centre manager Tony Mernagh believes the best way to ease the situation would be for the private agencies to formulate a voluntary code of conduct to govern their work.

He said: "We can't force anything on them because they're not doing anything illegal - they're not selling goods or services so they don't need to be licensed.

"I really think the adoption of a voluntary code would be the best thing in the short-term. Bringing in legislation is worth exploring in the long-term but that takes time and we need to do something now.

"If they adhered to a voluntary code there might be no need for legislation."

He said the main problem was that the charity workers were becoming a constant feature in the city centre, especially around Churchill Square, North Street and the North Laine.

He said: "We need something like the busking code of conduct, whereby you could only busk in one place for an hour and then you had to move on.

"There's no doubt they are depressing business. It really does harm roving trade when people are just browsing for nothing in particular."

David Keane, who owns and runs the Leathercraft and Western Store in Gardner Street, said the charity workers had a "totally negative impact" on business.

He said: "We take no money when they're around and they seem to be here every day. A lot of Brighton retailers are having a dreadful time, what with the charity workers and the parking regulations."

He said the introduction of a voluntary code could lead to an improvement if it helped to regulate the number of workers on the street.

Mr Keane said: "We rely on people stopping to look in our window and when these workers are around every day of the week, they don't do this.

"When they're not out there we're not doing too badly."

Mr Mernagh said: "Any disruption, including anti-war demonstrations, can be the difference between making a profit and making a loss."

Wednesday March 26 2003