Big Issue confirms sellers in Bognor are fake

Concern over '˜aggressive' Big Issue sellers in Bognor has increased after the charity revealed it has no vendors registered to sell there.

Business owner Paul Wells raised the alarm after feeling the sellers’ actions ‘didn’t seem right’.

He said: “I’d noticed, when walking down the precinct on many occasions, that the two ladies have been quite aggressive in the way they were selling and I know it had caused other issues for other traders.

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“I have no issue with the Big Issue but their sellers need to conduct themselves in particular ways and this didn’t stack up,” he added. “That sparked me to get in touch, the reply confirmed it was right for me to do so.”

The national distribution director at The Big Issue, Peter Bird, said: “We understand that a number of individuals, seen in Bognor Regis posing as Big Issue vendors are not official sellers. Obviously, we do not condone this type of behaviour.

“We always try to promote our ethos and our policy to all our vendors; however there will be some ex vendors or rogue vendors who abuse our business model to find a means to an end, which is unfortunately out of our control.

“We have outreach teams who go out daily to visit and support our vendors and look out for any misconduct. However, in the meantime, our advice is to make sure you buy a Big Issue from someone who is showing a valid, in date badge, wearing a red Big Issue tabard and that is selling the current edition of the publication. It is also important to always take the magazine.”

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