Permanent day-glo orange markers showing the magazine’s logo have been sprayed onto the pavement at the seven designated sales ‘pitches’ in the City Centre and sellers have been asked to remain on, or close to, the official signs as their safeguard that the public knows the site is officially recognised.

The City Council’s Senior Licensing and Enforcement Officer Julian Pugh said that despite a few complaints about the number of ‘Big Issue’ sellers operating in the City Centre, the Council’s relationship with the publication for the homeless and its people since its appearance in the City during the early ‘90’s has generally been very good.

But, he added, the last few months have seen an increase in the number of reports of unofficial sellers – particularly in Angel Place and at the New Street end of the City Walls footbridge – and, he said, the markers represent the best way of protecting both the sellers and the public from unofficial activity.

"While periodical and newspaper sellers don’t need to be licensed, we still work closely with managers of the publication and the police to control the number of official sites and to check on the sellers themselves – and all along, we’ve never received anything other than excellent co-operation from all parties concerned.

"The Big Issue sellers should display a badge to show that they are authorised sellers. By visibly marking-out the agreed pitches, the public knows that the site as well as the seller has been officially approved and that the site has also been agreed by us and by the police.

"Any other should be considered ‘unofficial’ and should be reported to us or to the publication’s Maggs distribution centre in Deansway" he said this week.

The seven agreed ‘pitches’ in the City Centre are at St Helens Church, Marks & Spencers, the Cross, Foregate Street Post Office, Mealcheapen Street, Pump Street end of the Shambles, and St Johns.