STUDENTS who help vulnerable people on nights out have been joined on patrol by Jackie Roberts.

Jackie, whose daughter Megan was 20 when she died in the River Ouse following a night out in York, joined the NightSafe team from the University of York, along with representatives from the Royal Life Saving Society, for whom she is an ambassador.

The team patrols whenever student nights take place in the city, handing out water, first aid and advice, and this week's patrol coincided with the RLSS's Don't Drink and Drown campaign.

Scott Dawson is the community and wellbeing officer with the University of York's student's union, which has been working alongside York St John University to share the RLSS campaign with the students.

He said: "Our students are really engaged with the conversation that's going on now about river safety awareness because of the recent floods and obviously because of the ongoing deaths that we've encountered.

"We've found that students have received the conversation really well, and they're really proactive with the campaign. We're really hoping that at the end of this week student knowledge of river safety in York is going to be far higher than it's ever been."

This week was the first time Jackie had been out with the NightSafe team, and within 45 minutes of the patrol starting, the team helped a student who was bleeding profusely from a head wound.

She said: "The people I spoke to were all happy to talk to us about the campaign. They were all responsive to it, which is great, and said the universities' education on river safety was fantastic.

"It was a really great atmosphere, but I think when you're in that environment and completely sober it's slightly intimidating because they are loud and rowdy, and you're worrying they're going to wander into the road or water or if they're going to be safe. I just think NightSafe are incredible, they're so calm and deal with it so professionally, what they're doing is pretty amazing."

Aaron Dhanda, from the RLSS, said the campaign would see workshops with students to pass on CPR tips and other advice for dealing with drunk and vulnerable people, and those who had been in water during a night out.

He said: "A couple of the messages we'll be giving out to students are about getting home safely and looking after their friends, making sure they don't take shortcuts home along the water."

The RLSS campaign will culminate on Friday with the launch of 400 balloons by the River Ouse, to represent the hundreds of people who die from drowning in the UK each year.