All of us at the Big Issue are very aware of the distress the behaviour of unlicensed vendors causes to members of the public and the damage they do to both the reputation of our organisation and of legitimate Big Issue vendors who are working hard to try to extract themselves from the unfortunate position they find themselves in.

We have been working very closely with the local authority, the police, the Retail Crime Initiative and CRI's Rough Sleepers Street Services Team in an attempt to tackle this problem.

The main perpetrators have been issued with antisocial behaviour warning letters, informing them if they are unwilling to cease their behaviour, antisocial behaviour orders will be served upon them, a breach of which would result in a prison sentence.

These warnings will be issued alongside offers of help from various agencies, including offers of accommodation and appropriate treatment. It is hoped those involved will choose this option.

May I take this opportunity to thank all those people who support the work we do with homeless people and to ask anyone who would like to buy a Big Issue to please only buy from legitimate vendors i.e. those vendors wearing a Big Issue badge and standing at a marked Big Issue pitch.

-Peter Wileman South Coast manager, The Big Issue