Pastors take to Pendle's streets

12:38pm Thursday 11th September 2008

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CHRISTIAN volunteers will make late-night town centre patrols as East Lancashire’s first ‘street pastors’.

The church members will take to the streets of Nelson, Barrowford and Brierfield tomorrow, offering revellers a ‘helping hand’ and even confronting troublemakers.

The project – the first of its kind in East Lancashire – will see four teams of four pastors make night-time patrols across Pendle and has been backed by police and the council.

Organisers have admitted volunteers will face ‘dangers’, although police have said they are not replacements for their patrols and pastors will be backed up by officers.

Ian Humphreys, pastor at Nelson’s Central Gospel Mission, Goitside, will lead the team of volunteers from Wheatley Lane Methodist Church, St Mary’s Anglican Church in Newchurch, Pendle Community Church, Nelson, and Nelson Independent Methodist Church.

He said: “At the moment we want to be out and about on a Friday night between 8pm and midnight and the idea is we will be out there providing a Christian presence.

“We are not there to preach to people but we are there to offer safety.”

The group is set to be formally confirmed as street pastors during a ceremony at Nelson Town Hall tomorrow.

Mr Humpreys added that if the Friday night operations are a success, the patrols could be rolled out on Saturdays – and extended to other areas, including Burnley.

“I would say there is a danger but pastors have been on patrol across Britain since 2003 and there has not been one report of anyone being harmed,” he said.

“We are working with police and we have brought people in like teachers and social workers because we want the right people.”

Det Sgt Dave Groombridge said: “They are not to get involved with anything that would put them at risk.

“They are simply there to do good and have dialogue with people.”

Geoff Whitehead, Pendle Council’s community safety manager, said: “It is a well set-up project, it is a partnership with police and we are supporting it too.”

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