A LICENSING chief has urged Bolton Council to follow Manchester’s lead and introduce a code of conduct for charity collectors in the town centre.

Manchester City Council has revealed plans to introduce a voluntary code for the collectors — known as chuggers—after a raft of complaints from shoppers.

Now, Cllr David Wilkinson, who sits on Bolton Council’s licensing committee, is appealing to town hall legal chiefs to follow suit and explore ways of tackling what he sees as a growing problem.

He said: “We need to do this as a matter of urgency. The collectors are out every single day and some are extremely rude. I have seen bailiffs with better manners.”

Council bosses in Manchester want the code to lay out guidelines on how fundraisers conduct themselves and identify designated streets within the city centre in which charities are allowed to collect.

Visitors and town-centre workers have said they do not like being stopped in the street, but Bolton Council says it is powerless to regulate the collectors.

The “chuggers” have been hitting the headlines over the last few months, as the practice has become more widely criticised.

Earlier this month, a television investigation revealed several charities pay private companies who employ collectors on the charity’s behalf. The report found that, on occasion, the first £100 collected goes to the private collection company, not the charity.

Cllr Wilkinson said: “We can license those who shake buckets and collect cash, but we have no power to regulate those who collect direct debit details.

“I know people are getting very fed up with being stopped, especially by some of the younger collectors who seem to think they are selling entrance tickets to clubbers in Ibiza.”

The Professional Fundraising Regulatory Association has defended charities who use subcontractors and insisted charities generate between £3 and £4 back for every £1 they pay to the private companies.

No-one at Bolton Council was available for comment.