A team of street pastors in Wallingford is about to go on patrol for the first time to help the drunk and needy.

Churches Together Wallingford had the idea of starting a Street Pastors team after a group of volunteers in Wantage celebrated their first anniversary.

In May, 18 volunteers was recruited and the scheme, supported by Thames Valley Police and South Oxfordshire District Council, was launched at St Mary’s Church in the town centre.

Recruits have completed training with the Ascension Trust, the governing body for street pastor schemes, and start work on Friday.

Volunteers will offer to help people get home if they have had too much to drink, and will hand out lollipops and flip-flops.

Scheme co-ordinator Ralph Shephard, 56, who attends St Mary’s Church and is a volunteer, said: “This has worked very well in other towns in the area, including Wantage and Abingdon, so there is no reason why it can’t work well here.

“There are about 220 Street Pastors schemes across the UK and there are other places where volunteers are completing their training.”

Neville Burt, chairman of Churches Together Wallingford, said patrols would take place every Friday from 10pm until 2am.

He said: “We could extend that to Saturday night if the demand is there and we have enough volunteers.

“If girls are out in high heels and they get drunk and lose their shoes then we can offer them flip-flops.

“And when you get drunk your blood-sugar level drops dramatically so handing out lollipops can have a beneficial effect because they boost energy levels.”

The Wallingford scheme got a £3,000 grant from SODC and donations from other churches to raise a total of £8,000 for the launch.