Powers aimed at stamping out anti-social behaviour in Carlisle could be strengthened to help deal with “aggressive begging” in the city.

Elizabeth Mallinson, who is responsible for communities, health and wellbeing matters on Carlisle City Council, claimed that the city had had problems before lockdown which in some cases had included “professional beggars” travelling to the area, spending time begging then returning home at night.

Mrs Mallinson also said there had been examples of some people “masquerading as homeless people to tug on the heartstrings” and warned the council is looking to strengthen the public spaces protection order which allows enforcement officers and the police to clamp down on anti-social behaviour in the area.

She said: “We actually have one in place which is very robust but we’ve had a lot of issues and members of the public have got concerns about begging.

“This is something that has challenged a lot of authorities; we’ve got to strike the right balance between not moving people on just for the sake of moving them on and moving people that are genuinely being a nuisance.

“What we actually want to do is make it a better place for our citizens.”

However, Mrs Mallinson emphasised that the council was not looking to target homeless people with the orders and was always willing to help people in need.

She said the council and police would speak to people to assess their circumstances and find out if there was anything which could be done to help them and to direct them to support.

“If somebody has a genuine need, there are ways for them to be helped,” she said.

“Local authorities and the police will help them, and we do help them.

“We are a caring council and the police are a caring organisation.”

Mrs Mallinson said there had also been issues with nuisance such as people hosting parties and lighting fires in parks and woods which the orders could also look to put a stop to.

The idea of reviewing the orders, she said, is to ensure there is no ambiguity and people will understand exactly what they are and are not allowed to do, while also helping the police to operate and prosecute if necessary.

“We’re looking at strengthening it in line with other authorities so that we have full and transparent protection for individuals and for our residents,” she added.

“When we do these orders we look at them with a sympathetic eye but at the same time we make sure that they are punchy enough.”

Public spaces protection orders are created under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

A police spokesman said: “Police and partners have a number ways of dealing with aggressive begging, including enforcing a breach of the Begging Act, community penalty warnings and community penalty notices.

“We are also exploring other ways of tackling this issue and have an opportunity to add the issue to the current public space protection order, which is currently under review.

“We work closely with partners to ensure people who are legitimately sleeping rough are supported and referred to the correct organisations.”