THE scourge of beggars – both bogus and otherwise – is rapidly becoming an increasing and serious nuisance on the streets of urban Britain.

It is now difficult to walk down the main streets of many British towns and cities without being accosted, often belligerently, by beggars, many of whom have aggressive-looking snarling dogs.

To some people, it is positively frightening.

Yet there was outcry when an attempt was made to remove beggars from the streets of Windsor during the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. You would hardly think so – but the practice of begging is illegal, although this law is very rarely exploited. Why on earth not?

At least in Torquay, the fake homeless have been driven out of town but ‘legitimate’ beggars, it seems, remain untouched to enable them to continue to ply their illegal trade. Similar action has been mooted, but not executed, in Ely.

And now we even hear of gangs of beggars taking over town centres. Surely it is now time for the Government to step in? This has become much more serious than a mere local nuisance – although that is bad enough – but a national problem which needs to be stamped out.

Some of these people are not bereft at all – they can make three-figure sums on a daily basis. I was once accosted by a beggar in London who accidentally pulled out of his pocket a fat wad of banknotes – far more cash than I possessed myself.

A few years ago, the London Underground system was, for a period, infested by Eastern European begging women carrying babies.

Fortunately, the Tube management took a tough line, ordering them off the trains while passengers resolutely refused to hand over their cash. The result was that this menace disappeared.

A decade or so ago, beggars on British streets were a relative rarity. Now they are everywhere. The Government may be transfixed with Brexit, but it cannot just sit back and let this anti-social and aggressive practice continue. Let’s see some action.

YAWNERAMA. That was the strange word used by a political spokesman when he denied, yet again, a rift between Boris Johnson and the Prime Minister over Brexit. Yet, it is plain for all to see that these two people, if not at daggers drawn, have a somewhat different approach to a problem which has overwhelmed Government activity for some two years now.

Theresa May’s problem is that though she delivers speeches full of good sense, they are not inspirational – there is nothing of the Churchillian oratory about them, whereas Johnson knows precisely how to work an audience.

He is the only politician I know who can use long and obscure words and yet still retain the animated interest of his audience.

It is hard enough for the Prime Minister to have to deal with the stubborn Brussels negotiating team, without the pinpricks from one of her senior ministers. The one short message to these two is: Get your act together – and fast.