FROM welcoming visitors to Southend and gathering information to missing children and first aid, the street rangers are on hand to help.

The people in blue shirts, who we often see around Southend, are a uniformed team who were established to welcome visitors and be the face of Southend’s Business Improvement District, known as Bid, and act as a conduit between Bid and businesses.

They came about after companies signed up to pay extra business rates towards the initiative, which will pay for improvements for the town.

They are employed by Southend Bid which was founded in 2013.

They cover the area from the old B&Q site off Short Street to the Royal Pavilion at the end of the pier.

Less than four years later, the street rangers’ role has developed to include much more.

I got the opportunity to see just what the rangers do in the town.

There are usually four rangers out on the streets seven days a week, and I got the pleasure of going out with rangers Quentin Bailey and Andrew Steel.

As I put my radio on, which links me to all the rangers as well as many of the town centre businesses, the police and CCTV operators, I wait in anticipation for the action to start.

Not even a few feet out of the door, the rangers are greeting visitors and people they know from the town - they seem to have a massive rapport with the community.

As we walk along I talk to Quentin, who used to work for the council in parking about his job.

He has been a ranger since June 2013 and is a big people person. He tells me: “If you can maintain calm with people shouting at you as they point a finger, and know they are angry at the shirt and not you, you can be a ranger.

“The job is liberating, you have to be impartial but help everyone as much as you can.

“We are here to support the community and gather information when there is an incident.”

Although very well liked, the rangers can sometimes get hassle from individuals.

We hear over the radio that a store detective in a High Street shop has detained a shoplifter and the rangers think they know who it is from the description.

As we get to the office, the pair confirm the name of the shoplifter.

What is impressive to me is how they treat him. With respect and patience, despite the circumstances. They explain to him the consequences of his actions, recommend he leaves the High Street for the day and even offer him a plaster for a bleeding blister.

Andrew tells me that when he took the job, he expected to stay no longer than six months but three years later, finds he loves it even more. The rest of the afternoon flies by as we respond to calls for first aid, and remind the homeless that they can’t loiter outside the shops.

The manager of Animal, Nicola Seymour, tells me the rangers have been invaluable.

She said: “We know as soon as we radio them, they will be with us. They have helped with all sorts.

One thing is for sure, they are working hard to make Southend a safer, better place. and the rangers need to be recognised for their hard work and dedication.