IT is 3am, you have been drinking with friends, but now find yourself alone, unable to find a taxi and feeling cold and upset.

This is a situation revellers in Yeovil may recognise and, until now, there were very few places they could turn for help.

But a team of people has taken to the town centre streets to offer support to those in need from this month.

Sporting dark blue jackets with a reflective strip, street pastors will be a regular late-night sight in the town. They will patrol the streets from 10pm on Saturdays in groups of three, maintaining radio communication with the town centre’s CCTV control centre, police and pub door staff until 4am.

All 26 recruits are church members and ministers, but although the name suggests this, they are not in town to preach or convert. Their aims are simple: to listen, offer care and to talk.

Adrian Prior-Sankey is leader of Taunton Street Pastors, a scheme which has been running since January.

He said: “We are there to listen, care and provide pastoral help in real terms. That means helping people who have got into difficulty late at night, most often because of alcohol.

Surprised

“We might be able to help reunite them with friends or help them make a phone call. We will give them bottled water, flip-flops, pick up broken glass and bottles that are lying around, but we will not give money. We are not on a tally on how many we help. If we only help one person, that is enough. There are no targets or great expectations.”

Response to the scheme can be mixed but, on the whole, clubbers, door staff, police officers and parents have welcomed it, said Mr Prior-Sankey.

“People are genuinely surprised that this is a church thing, and that people are willing to stay out as long as it takes. Street pastors are often the last people to go home. Parents, who are out in town socialising, often say we are so glad you are here because our young people are out in the clubs.

“We understand that some young people are speaking freely, and there are a number of incidents where people are mildly abusive, but we are not judgemental.”

Yeovil Street Pastors began work on Saturday, and hopes were high that response to the scheme would be positive.

Team chairman Alan Guy said: “No doubt people will ask us who we are and why we are doing it, and the three things that need to come across is we are there for people to listen, to care and to talk to them.

“Everybody comes back with the same stories. First of all people are amazed that a bunch of volunteers want to do this and a lot of conversation will be started inevitably by going round. The vast majority of people just want to go out and have a good time. But as well as having a good time, some people have one drink too many and we are there if people need us.”

The organisation was founded in South London in 2003 by the Rev Les Isaac.

Street pastors now number more than 2,500 and operate in around 100 towns and cities across the country.

In Yeovil, police chaplain Alan Partington, Mr Guy and PC Dave Buckley first got together two years ago to find out more about the scheme. Calls for recruits were answered by volunteers of all ages from nine local churches. They each completed a 12-month training course covering youth culture, drugs and homelessness.

Supported by the town council and police force, the scheme is recognised as a means of reducing crime and disorder.

A recent study in Portsmouth revealed the presence of street pastors and taxi marshals has reduced anti-social behaviour there by 60 per cent. However, the volunteers are keen to stress that while their work inadvertently may help reduce crime, it is not their objective.

Mr Prior-Sankey said: “We are not the police. The only reason we wear uniforms is to help the youngsters identify us and it will become identifiable on the streets of Yeovil. “We understand the needs of the homeless, youth culture and the nature of young people, and we are able to do basic first aid

“We are a presence on the streets. It is the gift of the church to the local community.”

It is hoped that if the Saturday scheme proves successful, street pastor patrols will take place on Friday nights as well.