We can give communities back their pride in the places where they live

Stephen Byers Local Government Secretary

Stephen Byers, Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, launched details the pilot project on Wednesday.

Half the money needed will be put forward by the government, the rest by local councils.

Mr Byers visited a housing estate in Merton, Surrey, where neighbourhood warden Eric Crane has become a local hero.

Pilot scheme

Ministers want the pilot scheme, to be used in 100 areas encompassing 250,000 households, eventually to be rolled out throughout England and Wales.

The new wardens will patrol the streets in bright uniforms. Radios will keep them linked to the police and they will be able to study closed circuit television (CCTV) footage.

Eighty-five Neighbourhood warden schemes were introduced last year to operate in suburban areas and the new street wardens will patrol town centres and inner city roads.

Byers says the wardens will crackdown on dog fouling

Visiting the Merton scheme, Stephen Byers said having a full-time warden was helping local people to feel safer.

"People remember characters like park keepers and caretakers who they came to trust," he said.

"By introducing street wardens, we can tackle together the problems that are most irritating in neighbourhoods - dog fouling, graffiti covered buildings, fear of crime and loutish behaviour.

"We can give communities pride in the places where they live."

Eyes and ears

The Police Federation last year raised concerns that neighbourhood wardens cold become a rival police force.

But a DTLR spokeswoman said the wardens would help the police but were not a substitute for "bobbies on the beat".

Waterson: Scheme is a gimmick

"They will also act as the eyes and ears for the police by providing information about anti-social behaviour and acting as an authority figure for youngsters to look up to," she said.

Local councils are being invited to bid for a share of the �25m put up by the government.

That cash is half the amount needed to finance the schemes and councils will have to find the shortfall from their own budgets or through sponsorship.

Local control

The Local Government Association (LGA) which represents councils, welcomed the scheme.

An LGA spokeswoman said: "We are for street wardens - as part of the tools to improve neighbourhoods they have their place."

She said the plans meant local residents decided what should be their wardens' focus.

That could even include helping elderly people to do their shopping.

But Conservative local government spokesman Nigel Waterson criticised the scheme.

"A gimmick like street wardens can't make up for the harsh fact that there are fewer police on the streets under Labour," he said.