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 Queen Elizabeth's grandson Harry and his American fiancee are to
tie the knot at Windsor Castle, the monarch's palace to the west
of London, in May with thousands of visitors expected to visit
the town to celebrate the occasion.
Simon Dudley, the leader of the Royal Borough of Windsor and
Maidenhead council, wrote on Twitter there had been an "epidemic
of rough sleeping and vagrancy" in the town and said he wanted
police "to focus on dealing with this before the #RoyalWedding".
"This is creating a concerning and hostile atmosphere for our
residents and the seven million tourists who come to Windsor
each year," he wrote in a letter to the local Police and Crime
Commissioner Anthony Stansfield.
"It is becoming increasingly concerning to see the quantities of
bags and detritus that those begging are accumulating and
leaving on our pavements, at times unattended, thus presenting a
security risk."
Windsor, the oldest inhabited castle in the world which has been
a home of British monarchs for almost 1,000 years, attracts 1.3
million visitors every year, while many also visit the town to
watch the regular "Changing the Guard" ceremony with soldiers in
scarlet tunics and bearskin hats parading with an army band.
Dudley said the council had invested heavily in support services
to help those in need with shelters and emergency accommodation
for rough sleepers, added there was evidence that many of those
begging were not in fact homeless.
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"Obviously, the level of tourist interest is set to multiply with
the Royal Wedding in May 2018, and there are increased concerns from
our residents about their safety," he wrote, calling for the police
to invoke powers such as the 1824 Vagrancy Act to clear the streets.
"The whole situation also presents a beautiful town in a sadly
unfavorable light."
Stansfield said he was surprised the letter had been publicly
released, but added the police would be happy to listen to any
issues.
"I will of course provide (Councillor) Dudley with a full response
addressing his concerns once I have received the letter and
investigated further the issues he has raised," he said in a
statement.
The Windsor Homelessness Project's manager Murphy James told the BBC
it was "sickening" Dudley had cited the royal wedding as a reason
for concern.
"It's absolutely abhorrent that anybody has got these views in this
day and age, especially a lead councillor of the borough," he said.
"If somebody is sleeping out on the street, they are not there by
choice, they are there because something has gone wrong."
(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Stephen Addison)
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