Female pensioners are to form the frontline of a new group of religious volunteers – known as Street Pastors – who will patrol the town's drinking hotspots on Friday nights.

The volunteers will talk with drinkers and offer help such as walking people to taxi ranks and listening to those who are upset.

The scheme is being organised by Kingdom Life Church member Richard Johnson.

He said the elderly volunteers were particularly useful in difficult situations, adding: "The age range of the volunteers is from 25 to 65. But, bizarrely, it's the mature ladies who often have the best results, because the lads see them as kind of mothers, or even grandmothers.

"They bring across a sense of calming everything down."

So far, 18 people from churches across Northampton have signed up to be street pastors.

Churches from Northampton involved in the scheme are St Giles Church, Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, The New Testament Church of God and the Kingdom Life Church.

But Mr Johnson said the Street Pastors would not be preaching in the streets.

He said: "Although it's a Christian thing, it's very much a sense of listening and caring for people and their needs.

"The pastors will be doing things like making sure people who are a bit worse for wear get a taxi back home.

"It's a very non-confrontational thing. The pastors are trained to recognise body language, so if things flare up quickly, they'll recognise that and back off."

The pastors will tour the town centre from 10pm on Friday nights until 4am on Saturday mornings and are due to start their rounds on October 24.

The launch of the Northampton scheme follows one in Rushden, which began last week.

The Street Pastor initiative was first launched in London in 2003 and has since spread to a number of other cities, including Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.