A CHARITY champion had his fundraising effort halted on Saturday by a council enforcement officer.
Over the last three years, Steve Evans has generated thousands of pounds for good causes with his Highstreet 100 campaign, which sees him pace up and down his local high street 100 times.
But the Point FM DJ, who previously successfully walked up and down Prestatyn High Street was stopped in his tracks when he attempted the same along Rhyl High Street on Saturday as he did not have a street collection permit used to outlaw bogus charity workers.
Mr Evans, 48, who was raising money for the North Wales Cancer Centre at Glan Clwyd Hospital, and Dyserth Pet Rescue Welfare Association, raised £300 on the day despite being stopped only 38 lengths into his walk
He said: “I’ve been raising money for charity for a number of years, and in March my wife was diagnosed with cancer.
“Since then I’ve been raising funds for the cancer centre at Glan Clwyd.
“I wasn’t trying to hide anything, and I had a T-shirt on with all the information about the Highstreet 100.”
Mr Evans has since lodged a complaint with the council about the way he was spoken to by the officer, alleging that he was made to feel “dishonest”.
“I understand he was just doing his job, and if he had come over and said “I’ve seen your raising funds, but you haven’t got a licence”, I would have said sorry and accepted it.”
A statement from Denbighshire County Council said: “We appreciate Mr Evans was carrying out a run to raise money for worthy local causes but anybody collecting money or selling articles for the benefit of a charity must have a street collection permit and follow the regulations attached to that permit. There is no charge for a permit and the purpose of these requirements is to prevent bogus collectors from operating within Denbighshire and to avoid saturating the area with collectors from different charities.
“The council’s practice is not to allow any form of collection on the Promenade areas within the County whether for charitable or other purposes.”