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Organised gangs of street traders have been driven out of the city, it has been claimed, after eight people were charged with illegally peddling.

Police, Oxford City Council and immigration officers swooped on traders working illegally in Cornmarket Street, in Oxford, last year following a series of complaints.

Mother-of-two Fabhiola Owen, of Quarry High Street in Headington, Oxford, and Jigresh Rajyaguru, 30, of Wessex Gardens in London both admitted illegally trading in Cornmarket Street, at Oxford Magistrates Court on Monday.

Two more illegal traders, Asaph Ashkenazy, 23, and Shlomy Azolay, 28, have now been deported to Israel. Six more people arrested in Cornmarket Street failed to attend Monday's hearing.

Oxford City Council welcomed the convictions claiming a crackdown on illegal street trading had improved Cornmarket Street for shoppers and legitimate traders. Illegal traders were targeted during a joint-operation last September.

The crackdown came after complaints from traders and shoppers that some street sellers did not have permission to trade. Bob Price, leader of Oxford City Council said: "The successfully planned operations have led to no large scale illegal traders returning to Oxford to date.

"We will continue to monitor this and are now in a position to provide weekend cover on Saturdays and Sundays to continue to deter illegal street traders.

"We welcome the two guilty pleas of illegal street traders, Fabhiola Owen and Jigresh Rajyaguru."

Owen, a mother of children aged two and six, pleaded guilty to trading without consent.

James Franklin, prosecuting, said Owen was working at a jewellery stall when approached by council officers and police in an early morning swoop on Saturday September 8 last year.

Owen did not have an Oxford City Council trading licence or a police peddler's certificate, Mr Frankin added. Defending herself, Owen said she had been a pedlar for many years with a valid certificate.

However, she admitted she had no licence to trade when caught by police.

She said: "I am a single mother with two kids.

"I was short of money so I had to go out and get cash for my kids. There's so many people doing it (trading without a licence).

"Everyone thought it was fine to do. For so long, people were doing it anyway."

Jigresh Rajyaguru, 30, of Wessex Gardens in London, did not turn up at court but submitted a guilty plea in his absence. Mr Franklin said Rajyaguru was selling pashminas in Cornmarket Street on four different stalls.

He only had a pedlar's licence, which does not allow a trader to sell in Cornmarket Street.

Terry Gardener, chairman of the magistrates, handed Owen a £35 fine, a £15 victim surcharge fee and was ordered to pay a £50 contribution to costs.

Rajyaguru was fined £35, and ordered to pay £225 costs and a £15 surcharge. Six others arrested during the illegal street trading operation, including one from Oxford, three from London, one from Bristol and one from Reading, failed to turn up.

The court adjourned their cases until June 20.

7:04pm Tuesday 20th May 2008

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