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The mayor of Melbourne claims up to a third of beggars in the city are actually backpackers looking to earn money.

Officials in the Australian city are struggling with a rising number of beggars, despite it being illegal and leading to fines of more than £50. 

The city's Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle, says an increasing number of tourists are begging to boost their travel funds. 

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Authorities worry that travellers are taking much needed earnings away from the city's homeless community

And according to Australian newspaper The Herald Sun, over a third of the city's beggars are actually backpackers, largely males under thirty years old.  

Mayor Doyle said: 'Service providers tell me that international tourists make up around a third of the people begging on Melbourne's streets at the moment.'

It is thought that beggars can make between £20 and £100 per day. But authorities worry that shoe-string travellers are taking much needed earnings away from the city's homeless community.

Over a third of Melbourne's beggars are actually backpackers, largely males under thirty years old

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'Some of those international backpackers are operating on a very tight budget and so in their minds, they see it as OK to beg to try to raise additional funds,' Major Brendan Nottle, from the Salvation Army told the newspaper.

He also warned city dwellers not to give beggars money, suggesting that buying someone a meal would be more appropriate if they were keen to help. 

It was recently revealed that carparks in the city had been transformed into illegal makeshift campsites for travellers wanting to save cash, and some backpackers had even taken food intended to feed the homeless.