Volunteers who help weekend revellers in Newtown have told how they have seen a spike in drug issues as they mark 15 years of keeping people safe in the town centre.

Street Pastors have been offering support on three Saturday nights a month by giving first aid, water and flip flops while also listening to those they encounter.

Teaming up with police, night-time businesses and their door staff, the trained volunteers go out in groups of three from 10pm to 2am to make sure people get home safely.

One of the street pastors, Fiona Covington-Mann, told Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Town Council earlier this week that volunteers have seen an increase with issues involving drugs in the town.

"We have to be very aware with drug issues and people we come across," she said. "We always have a police incident number when we are out.

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"The community is peaceful because we are there in a non-judgemental situation. The police say crime falls by about two thirds which is a phenomenal amount.”

Another volunteer David said parents have valued the street pastors support over the years by caring for their teens and young people while out on the town with friends.

"Especially young women on nights out where their friends go off," he said. "We stay with them until mum or dad, or taxis arrive to collect them.

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"Doormen will come up to us and say if someone is very drunk and we’d make sure they’d get home safely. That support between 10pm and 2am is helping people so incidents don’t happen, and people are safe on the streets."

Fiona added that Newtown Street Pastors are looking to get more people to join them on Saturday nights and possibly Friday nights. The rigorous training involves issues such as first aid, domestic abuse and mental health.

"It costs £121 to train a street pastor but we are fortunate that a lot of people around here do it for free because they regard it such a valuable asset to the community.

"We are there to help and support. No one weekend, one patrol or hour can be replicated.

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"We came across a chap and we still don’t know how he got here but he wanted to go home to Manchester. At 1.20am the only thing he had was his phone and the trains were not running. This poor chap had far too much to drink.

"We persuaded him to go to McDonald's where he had a coffee and we thought how on earth are we going to get him home. We finally got through to his parents, and it was something he was doing quite regularly but not outside the Manchester area.

"We sobered him up and we were there with him until 3.40am. One door staff member said, 'I finish at 4am and I’ll drive him home'. And he did."

Fiona added: "We are not there to evangelise or preach. We are practical Christians offering support, care, listen and help. If people, ask about religion we answer it and that’s as far as it goes."