§ 25. Mr. J. Hallasked the Home Secretary whether instructions have been issued to officers of the Metropolitan Police to remove unattended barrows from Covent Garden and to require a money payment of the owner of the barrow before it is returned to him; and whether he will inquire further into the matter, seeing that the men concerned are daily seeking some form of employment from as early as four a.m., with the prospects of small earnings as outside porters, and are severely penalised by this action of the police?
§ Sir J. SimonRegulations made by the Commissioner of Police under the Metropolitan Police Act, 1839, for Covent Garden Market prohibit barrows standing within the precincts of the market except for the purpose of the immediate delivery of goods. The Regulations, which have been in force since 1923 are directed against the common practice of leaving barrows in a haphazard manner and for indefinite periods, which the Commissioner informs me is one of the principal causes of congestion in the Market. Frequently the person responsible cannot be found and in such cases the barrow is removed to the police station where, on 1322 reclaiming it, the owner is charged a fee prescribed in the table of fees duly approved under the Police Act, 1890.