There is no dignity in begging.

Despite sitting on the streets of Bristol in my dirtiest pair of black jeans, ripped T-shirt, black sweatshirt, and woollen hat I still felt like an impostor.

It is easy to sit in the subway under St James Barton roundabout, with a "homeless and hungry" placard in front of you, but it's much harder to feel like a beggar.

The reason is drugs - or in my case, the lack of them.

I wasn't begging because I was desperately trying to fund my next fix and maybe that was why I was so unsuccessful in collecting money.

During my first hour as a beggar 109 people walked past. I know it was 109 because the counting helped to pass the time.

My presence brought a mixed response among passers by.

Some seemed genuinely moved by my apparent plight while others made little attempt to disguise their contempt.

After an hour I moved on and my second 'pitch' was in the centre of the Broadmead.

Home - and I use the word loosely - for the next few hours was the entrance to an empty shop.

My solution to the indignity of begging was to look mainly at people's feet.

As a result I could identity the handful of people who gave me money by the shoes they were wearing.

Begging is a boring business. No thought is required and the aim is to cocoon yourself in the belief that you are being paid to do nothing.

My policy of only looking at people's feet meant I was caught off guard when a man knelt down beside me and said: "I think you know what I'm going to do."

Looking up I found the local face of the Avon and Somerset Constabulary bearing down on me.

"The shopkeepers have been complaining, " he said. "I don't want to nick you because I've got better things to do, so you will have to remove the sign."

In that one sentence he summed up the problems facing the police.

Arresting beggars is a futile task because the judicial system is not equipped to deal with them.

Fining someone £20 for begging doesn't address the underlying cause and that is their addiction to drugs.

This was never better illustrated than my experiences as a beggar in the afternoon.

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