TWO neighbourhood wardens visited London to tell ministers, police and local authorities why their work was so important.

Amanda Broomhill and Julie Broad are members of Swindon's nationally recognised warden scheme that serves the Parks and Walcot areas.

Amanda, a mum of two, joined the project after it put out an appeal for local people to come forward. "When I was appointed I found the other wardens were of all ages and backgrounds, but with one thing in common we all wanted to make a difference," she said.

"Swindon has recognised that women are a valuable asset to the neighbourhood warden movement and we are proud to say that we now outnumber the men in our scheme," she added.

The female wardens from around the country won praise from Yvette Cooper, a minister in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

"I want to see more women coming forward to make their communities safer and better places in which to live," she said.

The Parks and Walcot scheme, launched in 2002, was recently made a centre of excellence and was told that it was in line for a share of a £4.5m Government windfall.

Chris Neville-Smith, the wardens' supervisor, said he believed the Swindon scheme was the only one in the country with more female wardens than male.

"We are fortunate that most of the women we have on the team actually live locally," he said. "All the wardens have done the same training and the women do exactly the same as the men. We also have the most successful junior wardens scheme in the country."

The Parks and Walcot scheme, which was launched in 2002, was recently made a centre of excellence and was told that it was in line for a share of a £4.5 million Government windfall.