Manchester City Council Bill [Lords](By Order)

I think I should allow the hon. Member for Bournemouth, East (Mr. Ellwood) to answer the question about Christchurch. The city of Manchester is the centre of a conurbation and an historical retailing hub, and it is the place that is the most attractive to pedlars. There is an out of town shopping centre—the Trafford centre, which is quite well known—but it is private property and no pedlar would be able to enter it to operate as a pedlar. One of the anachronisms in the legal status is that where people may be a real or potential nuisance, a private shopping space can refuse to allow them on the premises—the Trafford centre almost certainly would—but in public spaces, such as the city of Manchester, there are no regulations for moving pedlars on, whatever nuisance they cause. I accept that there are decent pedlars whom none of us would want to snuff out, but there are others who abuse the system in all the six areas whose Bills we are discussing. The rogue pedlars—the difficult pedlars—not only give a bad name to those we want to support, but they cause great public nuisance either simply by their presence or by their unacceptable trading activities.