More venues have signed up to a scheme in Stevenage to help people who feel unsafe on a date get help from bar staff.

The ‘Ask for Angela’ initiative was launched with a handful of venues in the town earlier this month and since then a further 17 have come on board.

In the coming days, posters and stickers advertising the project will be placed in discrete locations in the venues.

Anyone on a date or who has met someone for the first time at one of these venues and who feels unsafe can ask staff for help by asking to speak to “Angela”.

Staff will then help them person to leave the venue discreetly and get home safety, if that’s what they need.

The scheme which has proved successful in other parts of the UK, is being piloted in Stevenage and if successful, could be rolled out across Hertfordshire.

Detective Sergeant Alex Tyrrell, from Hertfordshire Constabulary’s sexual offences investigation team, said: “Ask for Angela was created as a response to the dramatic increase in the popularity of online dating apps and websites in recent years.

“As a result many people are meeting for the first time in pubs and bars and the scheme gives those people the confidence to ask for help if they feel unsafe on what is effectively a blind date.

“I am delighted that so many venues have taken up the scheme since the launch. Our hope is that it makes people on dates feel safer and staff more prepared if someone in their establishment is vulnerable or needs help.”

The latest venues signed up to the scheme in Stevenage are:

Bar & Beyond,

The Coopers Inn,

the Cromwell Hotel,

the Old Post Office pub,

The Drapers Arms,

The Standard Bearer,

The Almond Tree,

The Chequers,

The Mulberry Tree,

The Standing Order,

Cinnabar,

El Bar de Tapas,

Tom Tiddlers Tavern,

the Red Lion,

The Inn on the Green,

the Marquis of Lorne,

the Pied Piper,

the Old Red Lion,

The Crooked Billet, and

The Old Forge.