A scheme aimed at ridding a town centre of trouble from late-night revellers is being piloted over the busiest weekends of the year.

The safety initiative will see a team of marshals stewarding the main taxi rank in Bishop Auckland every Friday and Saturday and Bank Holiday over the festive period.

Four door attendants from pubs and clubs will stay on duty for an extra hour after closing time to man the Market Place rank.

The marshals, who wear fluorescent jackets, will ensure that passengers queue in an orderly fashion and are not aggressive towards each other or to cabbies.

An extra bin is also being installed by Wear Valley District Council to encourage people to responsibly dispose of unwanted food if asked not to carry it in a taxi.

Wear and Tees Community Safety Partnership secured about £700 to pay the extra wages of the door staff, who are all trained and registered with the Security Industries Association.

Local taxi firms have co-operated with organisers on the scheme.

Tom Carver, head of public protection at Wear Valley District Council which is co-ordinating the scheme, said: "This initiative will be reviewed next year to see if it needs to be reintroduced.

"We hope this will complement the work of the police and benefit visitors, residents and businesses in the town centre."

The marshals will work closely with the regular police teams - which as usual will include six officers in the town and six available at request - if enforcement is needed.

Town centre beat officer PC Michael Hynes said: "In the past if there has been any trouble in the town from drinkers it would often start at the taxi rank.

"We hope the marshals will introduce a bit more order in the queue.

"People will be asked to queue back into the Market Place instead of alongside waiting taxis so they aren't tempted to jump the queue and cause unrest.

"The fact that existing, registered doormen are taking the roles means they know how to handle situations and will be recognisable and hopefully people will work with them.

"They will be visible and recognisable to us so we will be able to clearly see them alert us to a problem."