SOS bus to rescue town revellers

The idea follows the success of an SOS bus in Norwich

A new rescue service has been planned for the streets of an Essex town to provide aid to revellers.

The SOS bus has been funded by local businesses for volunteers to patrol Colchester, offering first aid, counselling and a lift home.

The service has been developed by the police and the borough council and will run on Friday and Saturday nights.

Roger Buston, borough councillor, said the bus could free emergency teams by dealing with non-emergency situations.

"They are very overstretched and quite under resourced for the jobs that they're trying to do," Mr Buston said.

"Also the idea of the SOS bus is that it wouldn't appear quite so confrontational, if you like, it would appear less aggressive to the people who need it."

The bus has been developed for the town following the success of the service in Norwich, Norfolk and Southend-on-Sea, Essex, the council said.