A MAN who patrols Brentwood with a team of street pastors, helping people in trouble, is keen to bring a similar scheme to Basildon.

Street pastors are volunteers from churches with a general concern for communities and young people. They are trained in drug and alcohol awareness and want to help crack down on antisocial behaviour.

Andy Tomkins, 48, of Ravensfield, Basildon, started as a street pastor two months ago and says he is keen to help start the scheme in Basildon soon.

The father-of-two said: “Street pastors are a real community thing and lots of the churches need to be involved in making the scheme work.

“It is still really early days and the scheme is something Churches Together in Basildon would like to see happen. We are not a replacement for the police, just another presence on the streets.”

Andy said Basildon street pastors would probably patrol Town Square earlier in the evenings, then move to Festival Leisure Park to provide a helpful presence outside the bars and clubs.

He said: “Ideally I would love to see patrols in Basildon on Friday and Saturday nights. Places where there are pubs, clubs and vulnerable people is where we really need to be. We are not on the streets to preach, but if people ask us questions, we are obviously willing to talk about our faith.

“We are there to talk to people about anything they want and be a visible presence of the church on the streets. For too long the church has been something that happens behind closed doors.”

Street pastor schemes are already a familiar sight in Southend, Colchester and Chelmsford.

Each project is set up by Ascension Trust and run by a local co-ordinator with support from the trust, local churches and community groups. They also work with the police, council and other agencies Pastor Mark Barford, vice-chairman of Churches Together in Basildon added: “The street pastors scheme would be something, to see all the churches in Basildon come together.”