In addition to naming the new Mayor, tonight's (May 17) meeting of Frome Town Council will be debating aggressive begging in the town.

A list of shop owners have signed a petition highlighting the issue and councillors have raised their concerns with local police.

Some of the shop owners from Catherine Hill have met Cllrs Dorrington and Usher to talk about the problem, while a total of 51 shop owners from the town have signed a petition saying the beggars are causing shoppers to think again about visiting.

In the minutes from the agenda they claim : " Aggressive begging is something that intimidates local residents and deters them from going about their daily lives. In addition, a consequence of this is that people are less likely to go shopping and this can have a negative impact on local businesses as well as presenting a negative image of the town centre. "

Councillors have said that the police are doing what they can with the resources they have but they need more data on the problem.

To that end police are leafleting local businesses encouraging them to report aggressive begging.

The meeting at the Town Hall starts at 7pm. The full agenda HERE