ANTI-social behaviour in Burnham fell this summer – possibly because one of the nightclubs had closed, a meeting was told. 

Burnham town councillor Janet Keen, in the absence of a police report at a meeting of the council on Monday, October 5, put forward an idea to help those caught up in anti-social behaviour at night with the use of volunteer street pastors.

A scheme in Weston-super-Mare had been successful and she had attended a briefing in Highbridge to hear more about the idea and explained how they worked.

She said: “Late at night when people have over indulged in alcohol or other substances and are not able to give any sense to anything or understand things, then what they need is a friend.”

Street pastors can de-escalate a situation, she said, before the police need to intervene. 

She said: “There have been occasions where the presence of street pastors have prevented sexual assault, and stopped people treading on broken glass in the street having lost their shoes. Lives have been saved. 

“In one case a young lady was sitting in a doorway. She was hyper-ventilating. The pastors called the paramedics and they looked after her.”

Cllr Keen appealed to the council and to the residents of the towns to volunteer to train to be street pastors or to be coordinators for the scheme. 

“Anyone with experience in these matters or first-hand knowledge would be appreciated if they came forward. It is non-denominational and a humanitarian response,” she said.