A SCHEME has been launched to reduce crime and improve public safety in Bromley town centre.

Seventeen pastors and members of seven Bromley churches patrolled the town centre for the first time on Friday.

Although they are committed Christians, the Bromley street pastors say they are there to help vulnerable people and discourage youngsters from crime rather than seek converts.

Jonathan McGill, who is also a senior pastor at Bromley Town Church, Ethelbert Road, Bromley, said: "We will only offer religious guidance if people ask.

"It's a chance for the church to come out of its buildings and serve the community.

"It's a chance for us to interact with people rather than sit and wait for people to come to us."

Across London, there are more than 200 people trained as street pastors and they have the support of community organisations, such as the police and the council.

Mr McGill, who is the father of two teenagers, decided to organise a team of street pastors in September last year after he met Reverend Les Isaac at a conference at Bromley College.

Rev Isaac pioneered the scheme in Brixton in April 2003, in an attempt to reduce gun crime after the shooting of Letisha Shakespeare, 17, and Charlene Ellis, 18, in Birmingham on New Year's Day four months before.

Street pastors now operate in several London boroughs, including Southwark, Hackney and Lewisham, and police say they have helped reduce crime.

Exact figures are not available but the Metropolitan Police says the street pastors' non-confrontational approach has cut crime.

Although the inner London boroughs tend to have higher crime rates, Mr McGill, 46, says the teams are important to fight the problems anti-social behaviour causes on Bromley's streets.

The street pastors hope to patrol the streets three times a month for the next year.

Bromley police deputy borough commander Superintendent Matt Bell welcomed the street pastors.

He said: "I salute their enthusiasm and commitment and thank them for their efforts."