DARK and dingy streets, along which women say they are too terrified to walk alone, are being put in the spotlight by Worcester's safety watchdogs.

The Safer Worcester Partnership - which involves the police, councils and other city groups - needs dozens of female students, residents and workers to group together and help investigate six routes around the city.

The women will be encouraged to walk from University College Worcester to the riverside, Angel Place and the bus station to Foregate Street Station, and from Lowesmoor, through St Martin's Gate car park to The Shambles before recording their findings.

Extra groups will try out routes around the King George V Playing Fields and Brickfields, the Ronkswood estate, and from Shrub Hill to the canal towpath.

The audit was due to take place between now and next Thursday, but organisers decided to put it off until December or January so more women could take part.

Zoe Cookson, the community safety co-ordinator, said the survey aimed to identify areas of the city that worried women.

Students and a lecturer from UCW have agreed to take part, as have city councillors, police officers, residents' association members and community groups.

"The audits will take the form of six short walks in the late afternoon or early evening, when fear of crime increases," she said.

The project - part of Worcester's Community Safety Audit - is similar to one conducted in 1998 by Crime Concern.

Six walks were carried out to uncover areas which women found particularly uncomfortable.

Safety chiefs examined their responses and set about improving the so-called risky areas with lighting and CCTV.

Now they want to know if their improvements went far enough.

"We wanted to repeat this survey at roughly the same time of year, and with as many of the same women as possible, to evaluate the changes and identify further areas of improvement," said Ms Cookson.

Caroline Catmur, a spokeswoman for UCW, said students were keen to take part.

"We've had a lot come forward," she said. "Safety is a big concern for us. We want our students to be as safe as possible.

"We sell alarms and make students aware of basic safety procedures like not walking home on their own after dark and using reputable taxi firms."

Anyone willing to take part should contact Ms Cookson on 01905 722067.