Church leaders from across Nottinghamshire have signed an open letter to Nottingham City Council criticising its poster campaign against begging. The posters warn shoppers not to give cash directly to homeless people , claiming it only fuels their drug or drink habits.
It depicts a polystyrene cup bearing the message "90% of the money given to beggars goes straight to drug dealers".
More than 30 members of the church say the posters do not make it clear there is an alternative scheme for giving money to the homeless across the city.
Reverend Andrew Deuchar, from St Peters Church in Nottingham, told BBC Radio Nottingham the posters send out the wrong signal.
He said: "The immediate image is of homeless people being responsible for the guns or the drugs.
"And this goes right against the message of the chief constable, who has said publically that the ones on the streets are the victims, not the perpetrators."
One-Minute World News 
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