A POLICEMAN in East Oxford said Cowley Road could benefit from the city’s ‘guardian angels’ who look out for drunk revellers.

A team of church-going Street Pastors stepped out amongst Oxford’s party-goers in the city centre for the first time last month.

The scheme launched after being hailed a success in Witney, Wantage and Thame.

The specially trained volunteers ‘patrol’ the area every Friday, offering a helping hand and a listening ear to people as they leave late-night bars and clubs.

They dress in dark blue coats emblazoned with Street Pastor, and carry lollipops to calm down rowdy drinkers and flip-flops for women struggling to walk in high heels.

Now East Oxford Neighbourhood Sgt Lewis Boyce says party-goers in his part of the city would benefit from the reassurance brought by Street Pastors.

He said: “We would like to have them down there. To have people on patrol, going to invest in people and take care of them when they are out would benefit the area.

“Any area would benefit from having them. The Cowley Road is a vibrant area and there is a lively night-time economy down there.”

It comes amid concern about rowdy students and violent incidents in the area.

The Rev Kathryn Bracewell, minister at New Road Baptist Church, said she would take the request to members, who will be out in the city for the fifth week on Friday.

She said: “It’s great the police value us in that way and think that we might have a role to play.

“This is something we will discuss. It is on the agenda for our next meeting so we can plan ahead.

“We can’t respond immediately because our project needs to embed a little bit. We decided to go out one night a week for a year to see how it goes.”

Residents living near Cowley Road said they had been kept awake by shouting, swearing, violence and vandalism.

They say this is particularly bad on Wednesdays, after crowds leave the O2 Academy following the Fuzzy Ducks student nights.

Last Thursday, a 20-year-old fresher was left fighting for his life after he was stabbed in Cowley Road during an argument outside the Hobgoblin pub shortly after 4am.

Six days earlier, a 31-year-old man was slashed across the face in public toilets, less than 100 yards away.

Last week, Sgt Boyce revealed officers had extended their Wednesday night patrols from 2am until 4am to help get a grip on the problems.