A HUDDERSFIELD church is playing its part in getting rid of gun crime.

The New Testament Church of God, on Great Northern Street, Hillhouse, is holding a service dedicated to tackling the problem on February 26.

The Rev Les Isaacs, the director of a new organisation, Street Pastors, will be a guest speaker.

Mr Isaacs, from London, will be speaking about the success of Street Pastors in reducing gun crime, violence and prostitution on streets in the capital and in cities such as Birmingham.

Street Pastors train members of the church to go out on their local streets between midnight and 6am.

The idea is that they will encounter people involved in drugs, violent crime and prostitution who would not normally be reached by church services.

The Rev Paul Thomas, senior pastor at the New Testament Church of God, said: "It has been very effective in the Midlands and London.

"The project will open in Leeds the day before our service.

"There has been a lot of publicity about guns on the streets of Huddersfield.

"We thought it was better to try and do something practical rather than just complaining about it."

The service, which will run from 11am to 1pm, will also include rap songs and dance and drama performances illustrating the problems of violence, drugs and guns.

Mr Thomas said: "It's not going to be a usual service. Perhaps people who don't usually join us would be interested in coming along."

The service is a precursor to a seminar the church is preparing in conjunction with West Yorkshire Police.

The seminar will focus on the problems of gun crime and will be entitled Gangs and Guns.