Chug off: Five day Staffordshire town centre ban for charity muggers
Chuggers have been banned from town centre streets in Staffordshire for five days a week and will be fined for breaking the rules.
Council bosses want to restrict the numbers of charity fundraisers working in Cannock and Rugeley at any one time.
It comes after complaints flooded in about people feeling pressured on the spot to sign up to donate money - which has seen them being nicknamed chuggers or charity muggers.
Cannock Chase Council is now working with the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association to manage collections in town centres. Chuggers will be able to work for two days between Monday and Thursday, but the council will set times, places and numbers of fundraisers allowed.
Anyone breaching the rules will be issued with penalty points which will stack up and turn into financial penalties for repeat offenders.
Under the new regime, chuggers will be banned from the area around Littleton Court, Cannock and the war memorial in Cannock town centre.
They would also barred from coming to the town on Fridays and Saturdays when only traditional tin-shakers will be allowed. The paid fundraisers will be restricted to four in number.
They will be allowed only on the pedestrianised area of Market Square, between Market Place and Church Street, Market Hall Street between Market Place and 16 Market Hall Street, and High Green between Market Place and Manor Avenue in Cannock.
In Rugeley, a total of just two fundraisers can work in the town at the same time.
The ban will apply only to paid charity workers who ask people to commit to direct-debit payments, not to traditional cash collections by volunteers shaking tins.
District bosses say their hands have been tied by outdated legislation.
However, they approached the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association to take action on their behalf against the opportunist collectors.
Under the PFRA's penalty and compliance regime, infringements of the rules attract penalties of 20, 50 or 100 points, depending on the seriousness of the rule breach.
Once the points total reaches a 1,000 threshold, the points are then converted into a financial fine at the rate of £1 per point.
Tony McGovern, managing director for Cannock Chase Council, said "The council is working closely with the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association to ensure that this kind of activity in the district is regulated properly and the public are protected from any aggressive fundraising."
Anyone who is concerned over charity fundraising in the district should contact the council on 01543 462621.