National charities regularly visit Wrexham

The activity, by so-called 'chuggers' - charity muggers as they are known - has reached a high level with the town centre manager receiving dozens of complaints.

Isobel Watson is now considering setting up a voluntary code of conduct for the fundraisers to adhere to.

In recent months, young men and women dressed in brightly-coloured tabards and armed with clipboards have been visiting the town daily.

The fundraisers for national charities stop shoppers and passers-by asking them to commit to donating to their organisation by direct debit.

It is a detriment to the shopping experience. Isobel Watson

According to the national charities which visit the town face-to-face fundraising is an effective form of raising money.

"We're getting very few complaints from the public and we think face-to-face fundraising is here to stay," said Giles Pegram from the NSPCC.

However Wrexham Council's Isobel Watson said people were sick of being targeted.

"I've had complaints from shops as well as shoppers," she said.

"You're not going to get people going through your door because they're going to have their eyes down.

"It is something that is a worry. It is a detriment to the shopping experience."

However, she admitted that the council were powerless to act.

"It's a public highway and they're perfectly entitled to be there," she said.

The majority of chuggers are employed through an agency rather than the actual charity and they receive an hourly rate of pay.

Complaints

A spokeswoman from River Island in Wrexham said they have had complaints from shoppers about the activity.

"They normally stand right outside our shop and we're being stopped every single day," she said.

And Nia Williams, a fundraiser from Nightingale House, a hospice for people with life threatening illnesses in Wrexham said local charities cannot compete.

"It has a knock-on effect that if somebody signs up to give �5 they probably won't give to a local charity because they feel they already donate," she said.

"The national charities have much bigger budgets to market themselves."

Ms Williams said the charity, with annual running costs of �1.65m, could never afford to pay for somebody to fundraise face-to-face.

Face-to-face fundraising for direct debits can provide a good opportunity for potential donors to ask questions Katy Randles of Charity Commission

Katy Randles of The Charity Commission - the statutory organisation that regulates charities - said many charities now raise funds by targeting towns.

"Face-to-face fundraising for direct debits can provide a good opportunity for potential donors to ask questions and obtain information before deciding to make a commitment to a particular charity," she said.

However, the public should feel free to take the material home and look at it more closely.

"Members of the public should not feel pressured by fundraisers into stopping or donating in the street and may, of course, prefer to give directly to the charity itself."