A WORCESTER politician wants to drive street collectors out of the city - saying shoppers are fed up "of being milked" for cash.

Councillor Alan Amos, who represents Warndon, says people in Worcester are being "subjected" to requests for money from tin wavers, volunteers and so called 'chuggers' that work for charity.

It comes as the city council has just agreed that a raft of organisations should have permission to ask people for donations in Worcester.

Eight bodies have secured permission from the city's licensing committee to be in Worcester, including St Richard's Hospice, the Rotary Club, the RSPCA, St John's Ambulance, the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

The list also includes the British Heart Foundation and End Polio, which aims to tackle Polio around the world.

Coun Amos says he has nothing against the charities, but is worried about the council allowing them all to stand in the streets with buckets asking for cash.

He said: "We can't keep on asking the people of Worcester like this, we're miking people for money and they are getting fed up of it.

"There's people in the streets with tins and cans, people with direct debits, we're subjecting people to something that seems very unfair."

His comments, made during a licensing committee meeting, were refuted by other politicians.

Councillor Ken Carpenter said: "We are not asking anyone to give anything to anybody."

Councillor Paul Denham, the chairman, said: "People can do what they want, some will give money to one charity and others may not - we cannot make moral decisions about one charity or another."

The city council says it hands out a maximum of 35 street licences a year, and in each case the organisation can only do it in Worcester once.

They are barred from collecting on Sundays, and in some calendar years the council gets less than 35 applications anyway.

Last February the city council banned face-to-face charity street collectors - known as chuggers - from Worcester apart from on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Only four collectors can be in the whole of Worcester at any one time, and are restricted to just parts of the High Street or the area between Argos and M&S in The Shambles.

The eight street collector licences are for people with buckets, rather than those who want to sign passers-by up to direct debits.

What do you think? Are you fed up of being asked for money? Call 01905 742248 or email te@worcesternews.co.uk.