DRESSED in burgundy polo shirts and black trousers, the new members of the Street Team do not obviously stand out on a Friday night in Fleet Street.

But all six of the wardens share a strong commitment to improving the centre of town for everyone's benefit.

On Friday night they joined town centre manager Bernie Maguire to run an eye over their new patch, and revellers gave them the thumbs up.

Bernie said: "They have been hired from an agency and will go through an extensive, 20-week training course before they start later in the summer.

"We approached the business community and said if they paid one extra per cent on their rates it would fund the team.

"They agreed so we have come out tonight to see how the job will pan out."

The town centre has been marked out as a Business Improvement District that will be run by the fledging company InSwindon.

The street wardens will work for the company to provide a crime reduction service.

Bernie said: "They will not have powers of arrest but will be able to communicate with police and door staff via radio.

"They are going to help people reduce their chances of being a victim of crime."

In their role the wardens will speak to beggars to move them on, advise people how to avoid being pick-pocketed and target potential graffiti taggers.

Bernie said: "The police obviously have their own role and this is intended to support that, so that people can feel comfortable when out in the evenings here."

But the street team will not be confined to just night manoeuvres.

Their service will cover from 8am until 8pm with staff working a shift system.

Warden Phil Ballard, 29, from Redhouse said: "I think it will be a really rewarding job because it's about taking pride in the town centre.

"I was working as an administrator for the council and this will be a great chance to get out and about, to talk to and meet people.

"I had 11 years working in security and with this role I will be able to draw on that to help people feel safer."

Fellow warden Bill Gambling, 55, said: "I live in Wroughton and can honestly say that in the last 20 years I have only really come to the town to get things and then leave.

"When I moved here there were cars on Regent Street and I think the development of the town centre was a bit haphazard.

"We need to take pride in what we have and hopefully that will be reflected in a cleaner, safer place in future."

As they walked from pubs to clubs, revellers stopped to meet the new additions to the night-time scene.

Neil Strange, a 29-year-old IT worker from Wootton Bassett, said: "Anything that makes the town safer has to be positive, because there have been some nasty incidents here.

"Having people around who want to improve it shows a good attitude so I'm all for it."

Dale Titcombe, a 29-year-old IT worker from Freshbrook, said: "It's good that they will be out during the day too, so you know there's always someone there keeping an eye on things and who's doing what..

"The police can never have enough help in stopping fights and things like that."