Sales of personal safety alarms as part of the Bristol Evening Post'sClubSafe campaign have broken through the 4,000 barrier.

Police admitted they have been "staggered" by the response to the initiative and now plans are being made to spend the proceeds on 5,000 phone cards for clubbers.

PC Polly Johnson, of Avon and Somerset Constabulary's Crime Reduction Strategy Unit, said: "We have been overwhelmed by the level of demand for the £5 alarms since the campaign was launched in August.

"The fact is more than 4,000 people have got the extra protection offered by a personal safety alarm.

"The response from the public has been unprecedented and it shows no sign of subsiding."

The initiative was launched after the murders within three years of each other of Louise Smith, 18, and Jenny King, 22, as they walked home alone from nightclubs in Yate and Kingswood.

So far 17 nightclubs and pubs, six private hire firms and four hackney carriage companies have lent their support to ClubSafe, which aims to make it easier and safer for female revellers to get home after a night out.

Sales of the half price Godfather III-T flashing personal safety alarms have averaged 40 a day and now stand at 4,188.

For every one sold, £1 goes into the ClubSafe coffers and now arrangements are being made to buy 5,000 phonecards.

The cards will include three minutes of free talk time and every time it is used a 10 second personal safety message will be played.

They will include the telephone numbers of those private hire firms who have signed up the scheme.

Another section of the proceeds are being used to pay for 40,000 beer mats, which will carry the ClubSafe logo.

PC Johnson said: "It is all about spreading the ClubSafe message. The sales of the personal safety alarms demonstrate the fantastic response of the campaign and I¹m sure the free phonecards will be equally well received."

It is hoped the phonecards can be ready for the Christmas or New Year period.

The phonecards are just the latest tactic employed by the Evening Post to improve the personal safety of female clubbers.

As part of ClubSafe the managers of all the nightclubs which have signed up have agreed to make a free phone available to lone females wishing to call a taxi as well as designating a special waiting area at the end of the evening.

In addition people can now pay for their journeys in advance after pledges by the private hire sector and can ask for their driver to watch them get to their door safely after being dropped off.

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