MORE volunteers are needed for Bournemouth’s innovative Safe Bus, which provides a refuge for lost, injured or drunk revellers.

An open day will be held on Saturday, April 18 between 10am and 4pm, where the public will be invited to find out more about the bus and the services it provides.

The Safe Bus is based in Horseshoe Common, Bournemouth and is operated by Dorset Police, together with a team of volunteers and a paramedic or nurse.

It is fully kitted out to provide care and support for anyone who runs into trouble on a night out, with a public waiting area, private treatment room, hot and cold running water and heating and a private area for the taking of police statements.

Barry Barnes, who co-ordinates the volunteers, said: “It’s there to look after those that get themselves into any kind of trouble, whether that’s through having too much to drink, getting lost or falling over and injuring themselves.

“It’s a brilliant facility and our statistics for last year show that we saved 40 ambulance trips to either Poole or Bournemouth hospitals.

“It also saves the police officers from having to go to the custody suite because they can do their paperwork on the bus.

“We’ve a good age range of volunteers at the moment – our youngest is 19 and our eldest is 72. We need 20 volunteers on my roll to cover the 12 months so it would be nice to have some more.

“I think most of them want to be giving something back and some of the younger ones do it for the experience and to add it to their CV.”

Volunteers need to be at least 18 years old and, ideally, be able to work a five or seven hour shift every four or five weeks. The bus is based at Horseshoe Common nearly every Saturday night and also on Fridays throughout the summer. It is open from 9pm until 2am in the winter and 9pm and 4am in the summer.