Drinkers will see more than pink elephants when they stumble out of a town’s pubs - they’ll see the hand of the Lord.

A street pastor scheme will be launched tonight in Worthing in a bid to keep bleary-eyed drinkers safe.

The project will see teams of Christian volunteers deployed around the town to deal with people who have had too much to drink.

As well as talking to drunk people and making sure they can get to taxis, the street pastors will also be handing out flip-flops to women struggling to walk in their high-heeled shoes.

Rev Wing Man Tsang is one of the four-strong management committee.

A police chaplain in Worthing for the past two years, he said he has seen the pressure the police are under when the weekends roll around.

He said: “I have seen that the police's are very stretched over the weekends.

“They don't have the resources to deal with people who are intoxicated but are not causing any problems.

“Some of these people have committed no crimes but are incapable of getting home.

“We are not trying to stop people drinking. We are there to support people and keep them safe.

“We are not trying to do police work, we are trying to make Worthing a pleasanter place to be on the weekends.”

Although the scheme is launching tonight, it will not be up and running for at least three months.

All the volunteers, who will be sourced from churches in Worthing, will be fully trained and CRB checked.

That process is due to start at the end of October, with the pastors hopefully hitting the streets by Christmas.

Each of the volunteers will have to pay £150 to cover the costs of their uniform and training.

Rev Tsang is hoping that at least 20 people come forward and said that ideally he would like 40 so that the service could run on both Friday and Saturday nights.

He said: “We want the support and goodwill of the people of Worthing.

“We are doing it for their sake, not because we have got time on our hands but because there is a need for it in Worthing and we want to help.”

The project has the backing of the police, Worthing Pubwatch scheme, Worthing Borough Council and the town's mayor Noel Atkins who has named it as one of his chosen charities for the year.

The street pastors idea first appeared in the UK in 2003 with a scheme in London.

Organised by the Ascension Trust, it now has more than 100 teams around the UK.