SHOPKEEPERS in Shoebury have signed up to a new community scheme aimed at helping shoppers, residents and youngsters stay safe.

The first Safe Zone has been established in the Southend borough to cover shops in West Road, Ness Road, High Street and the Renown Centre.

Stores which sign up to the initiative, similar to one successfully established in Bristol, will allow pedestrians who feel in any sort of distress to call on shop staff to help.

Councillors Roger Hadley and Tony Cox made initial approaches to businesses and were pleased with the response.

Mr Hadley, a former newsagent in Ness Road, feels the zone will benefit the whole of Shoebury and shops taking part will each have a sticker in the window.

He said: “This will work for the elderly who feel unsafe or a youngster being bullied in the town.

“A couple of years ago there was an incident outside my old shop where a two-year-old girl was running around in the middle of the road, but people were reluctant to go to her aid.

“Now, if something like that happened again, they could be taken into a shop with a sticker in the window and be looked after.”

Nick Carr, chairman of the West Road Traders Association and owner of Carrs Funeral Directors, in West Road, said he was proud to be one of the first to sign up.

Mr Carr said: “It is a great idea.

“It will actually help the police as well as the community because it could take some of the workload off them.

“I just hope other traders around the borough see what we are doing and do it themselves.”

The scheme has been backed by residents of Shoebury, including Marian Livermore, secretary of Shoebury Residents Association.

She said: “This is something which is much needed for Shoebury.

“There are a lot of older people who are frightened to go out to the shops, especially around the Renown Centre, so this is a good idea.”