Barnsley beggars sent packing after taking train to Kettering to scam people

Two scammers who claimed to be disabled were sent packing from Kettering town centre by police - having taken a train all the way from Barnsley to beg here.

The beggars travelled more than 100 miles from the South Yorkshire town and placed themselves in Kettering's High Street on Wednesday (January 19).

Pleading with shoppers for cash, they even held signs which said they were disabled and hungry.

But when police came across them at about 12.15pm it soon became clear their plight was not as desperate as they claimed.

A police spokesman said: "Simple checks showed these people were not poor, homeless or disabled, they were simply scammers."

The beggars were given a £100 fine under Public Spaces Protection Order laws, which came into force in 2016 and ban people from begging in the town centre.

The pair had spent more than two hours on a train to travel to Kettering just to beg.

Even the cheapest off-peak return for a ticket today was £53.50

Earlier this week the Barnsley Chronicle reported that an order banning begging in the centre of the South Yorkshire town was pushing offenders out into other areas.