Action has been called for to address the behaviour and number of on-street fundraisers, so called ‘charity muggers’ or ‘chuggers’, who work in the borough.

Concerned residents have raised issues of personal and residential intrusion, potential harassment and the fact that charity sellers reflect badly on the charity they represent.

Jane Hyde, 54, of Markhouse Avenue, Walthamstow, said she was approached by the same ‘chugger’ three times in three minutes when she was standing at the western end of Walthamstow High Street.

She said: “I think they’re a nuisance, if they keep coming back after a clear refusal that’s harassment.

“He can’t have known it wasn’t me, what doesn’t he understand about ‘no’ I don’t know.”
She said they have been increasingly knocking on her door, too, which she also finds to be intruding, and wants to see something done by the council.

Another woman, who lives in Salop Road, Walthamstow, but does not wish to be named, said she would like to see a register which allows residents to opt out of door-to-door charity advertising.

She said: “Chuggers are advertisers but they bring their advert to your front door.
“I write off charities which employ this fundraising method.

“They interrupt your day to ask you for personal information and you have to be quite forceful sometimes to get them to leave.”

The woman, who has monthly standing orders with a number of charities, said it takes a certain amount of unpleasant bluntness to get rid of some and that their moral pressure was unwelcome.

Jose Soto, 29, of Aubrey Road, Walthamstow, said: “Sometimes their approach works, sometimes it doesn’t, they don’t annoy me so I think they’re fine.”

Rayme Ikonue, 29, who is employed to approach people in public in the hope of attracting them to central London university information days, said: “When someone says no we respect what they say and carry on to the next person.

“Some people walk past you like you have a disease and we don’t like that, even if people say no we just like to see some kind of response.”

Mohammed Osman, 21, who works for the same company said he makes sure people know he is not trying to sell them anything, instead he considers himself to offer them help by letting them know about university courses.

Both men are paid, on top of a basic rate, a performance commission awarded based on the number of people who show up to an information day.

Nearby Enfield council recently signed an agreement with the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association (PFRA) to limit the amount of 'chuggers' after a survey by the Local Government Association discovered most councils thought face-to-face fundraisers discouraged people from visiting shopping centres.

Charities can be fined up to £200 if on-street fundraisers are caught flouting strict new rules.

Only five charity sellers are allowed to work at any one time throughout the whole borough under new measures to encourage people to return to the high streets.

Waltham Forest council have been approached for comment.