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While sitting outside All Saints Church in Corn Street I was approached by two men, who had an interesting proposition for me.

"Do you want a bottle of methadone?" asked the first man, as he knelt down beside me.

Looking at his associate he added:

"We're both alcoholics and we only want £1.99 for a bottle of cider."

He explained that he was also a recovering heroin addict so the methadone was prescribed.

"The bottle is yours for £2, " he added.

The £2 I handed over was more than my efforts at begging had yielded and with that I returned to Broadmead.

After a few minutes I was approached by one of the more aggressive beggars in the city.

I nicknamed him Stigerthal because he was a cross between an old TV character called Stig, who used to live on a rubbish dump, and Neanderthal man.

He appeared desperate and made me an unlikely offer.

"Do you want to go halves with me on some crack?" he said.

He referred to the drugs by their slang names and pulled out a pocketful of change.

"It normally costs £15 but I can blag it for £13 or £14, " he said.

He counted out £8.30 and said if I could come up with the rest I was "in". He said he would see me in half an hour but he never turned up.

Although my sojourn into the world of begging was brief it was long enough to establish that a certain pecking order exists.

For instance the more experienced - or desperate - pitch up directly outside a cashpoint while novices like me go for the submissive approach.

Those who favour the proactive tactics normally have the worst drug habits.

My day on the street may have failed to produce much money - £5.65 - but it gave me an invaluable insight into the mind of the beggar.

The biggest tragedy about my research is that very little has changed in 12 months.

Some of the beggars have finally succumbed to their addiction but the conveyer belt of desperate drug addicts ready to take their place churns on.

Stopping the public giving money is one solution but not even an optimist would view it as anything more than a short-term fix.

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e-mail pastill@nep.co.uk