A PERSISTENT beggar on the streets of Worcester has become the first man in the city to receive a criminal anti-social behaviour order (Crasbo) for the offence.

Christopher Blanch, aged 33, was given the two-year order by Worcester magistrates on Tuesday, August 19, and faces up to five years in prison if he breaches it.

Under the order, unemployed Blanch, who is also homeless, is banned from loitering or sitting in any public place to beg, asking for money, food or cigarettes and sitting or loitering within 20 metres of a cash machine other than to use it himself.

Sergeant Geoff Murphy, community safety support officer for South Worcestershire, said: “Blanch has demonstrated on a number of occasions that he is a persistent beggar and has upset a substantial number of people by his approaches.

“The Crasbo was sought not only to reduce his re-offending but also to reassure residents, workers and visitors who feel intimidated, harassed, alarmed and distressed by a stranger continually pestering them for money or other items such as food and cigarettes.”

Blanch was convicted of begging in the city centre on 10 separate occasions between August 2006 and May 2008. He was seen hanging around various cash machines in Worcester.

The successful police application for the Crasbo follows an 11th offence in Windsor Row, Worcester city centre, on Wednesday, July 16.

A Crasbo differs slightly from an Asbo (anti-social behaviour order) in that it is issued on the back of a criminal conviction, while an Asbo is a civil matter, and the recipient may not have faced any criminal proceedings previously.