A resident is calling for changes to the law after he was stopped by charity agents five times walking along a pedestrian street.

Eric Dillon says he is tired of having to say No to agents in George Street, Hove, and is calling for better regulation of the practice which allows them to collect personal bank details on behalf of charities.

The company which employs many of the agents said it was careful not to overuse sites such as George Street, saying it adhered to a strict code of practice with information collected going straight to the charity concerned.

Mr Dillon, of Eaton Gardens, Hove, said he was surprised to learn the agents did not need licences for their work.

He said: "They confront you as you walk along Western Road or George Street, putting the emphasis on you to say No.

"There are always four or five of them distributed along George Street so, by the time you've come to the end of it, you've been directly approached four or five times.

"They don't recognise me from one day to the next so they try me again and again.

"I've been to India and I'm used to people begging and I don't mind giving.

"But charities used to do this once or twice a year and now it's all the time.

"I spoke to one of the agents and they told me they were paid £7.50 an hour and were under a lot of pressure to collect signatures."

Agents do not need licences because they are collecting signatures and direct debit details, not cash.

James Hale, spokesman for the Personal Fund-raising Partnership, which employs agents and works on behalf of various charities, said the public could be assured bank details went straight to charities and no commission was involved.

He said the company rested sites so they did not become overused, adding: "Taking George Street as an example, at the start of September we didn't use the site at all.

"For the next two weeks we used it once a week for the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, then for four weeks in October for the RNLI but again once a week.

"I don't feel that would be construed as an overuse of the site.

"All the charities have got together and worked out a voluntary code of practice, which covers training of staff.

"The guys on the street are all well-trained professional fund-

raisers who know a lot about the charities concerned.

"No pressure is put on the donor and if they want to walk away they are free to do so."