The blue jackets will identify bona fide Big Issue sellers

Members of the St Ann's Youth Inclusion Project created the jackets, which were judged by a special panel.

The project helps the teenagers involved gain new skills which can help them decide a career path.

A member of Nottingham-born designer Paul Smith's clothes company helped choose the winning design.

Rogue traders

City council leader Jon Collins said action taken by the city has helped reduce the number of persistent beggars from 67 in 2003 to 11.

"We know that the majority of people who beg in Nottingham spend the money they raise on hard drugs like crack and heroin," he said.

"We need to make it as difficult as possible for them to use begging as a way of raising cash to fund their addictions."

Big Issue regional manager Paulette Golding said: "Rogue vending is a huge problem for us.

"Unfortunately there are people who manage to get hold of old or damaged copies of the magazine and use them to beg money from people - often aggressively - giving our registered vendors a bad name.