OVER ten years, Colchester’s SOS bus has become an permanent nighttime fixture on the high street.

Town centre revellers have become used to it being there, anchored next to some of the town’s most popular nightspots.

And although everyone hopes they will not have to use it, it is a reassuring sight to see the volunteers on the streets on a rowdy Friday or Saturday evening.

The Open Road staff who operate the service deserve huge credit for what they have done over the last decade.

For many different reasons, our traditional emergency services are struggling these days, and without people like these selfless volunteers there would be far more people who do not get the help they need.

Although drunken revellers are perhaps the most active users of the bus, its staff are also on hand to help those with serious injuries or even those in another kind of crisis - never judging the the public who use the service.

The bus, which has had about 350 different volunteers over its ten year stint in the town, really shows the best of what a group of like-minded people can do for their community if they put their minds together.

Whether it is to offer a kind word of advice or provide a free bottle of water to help revellers stay hydrated, the bus could not operate without these individuals, who deserve to be celebrated for helping the bus reach its tenth anniversary milestone.

We should all be very grateful to have the SOS bus in our town - long may it remain.