Sharon - the shoppers' ambassador

THINK of an ambassador and the chances are you imagine someone in an expensive embassy dishing out cocktails and small chat at receptions.

Sharon Davies's job is nothing like that. Based in Bolton's Market Place, she is more likely to be found handing out lollipops to cheer up bawling children.

As one of Bolton's two ambassadors, her role is to do everything she can to ensure the town centre is a welcoming and safe place to shop. And if that sounds a broad remit, it is.

Ask Sharon to describe a typical working day and she laughs. There is no such thing. Since being appointed by the Bolton Town Centre Company in April she has faced a vast range of situations -- from taking up cudgels with the council about uneven paving stones to helping tend a pedestrian who had been run over.

She has even faced verbal abuse from bikers and beggars when asking them to abide by town centre by-laws.

There is no way of predicting what she will face when she sets out on patrol in her distinctive blue uniform each day. Whatever it is, she encounters it with the same down-to-earth good humour and common sense.

It is quite a shift in career for Sharon who was shocked to be made redundant from Littlewoods after 20 years, but it is one she clearly relishes.

"I love it," she says. "It's all so rewarding. I like thinking that I work on behalf of the people of Bolton. From giving a screaming kid a lollipop to ringing for an ambulance, it's all about making a difference.

"The main skill you need is getting on with people and being on the same wavelength as them. You don't put on airs and graces or speak to people like they are five years old."

Out on patrol with her, you can see what she means. She spots a cyclist illegally biking through the crowded town centre -- one of her biggest bugbears -- and stops him.

Smiling she explains that it is against bye-laws and potentially dangerous and asks him to stop. Grinning back he apologises, says he did not realise and dismounts.

"I never approach people in an aggressive manner," she said. "If you are confrontational, people are confrontational back."

Inevitably though, however gentle Sharon's tickings off, not everyone reacts as reasonably as the cyclist. She admits she has been subjected to some unsavoury language from some equally unsavoury characters.

"I did feel threatened at first," she said. "Drunks are the worst because you don't know how much they have had or how they will react. I don't worry about it. I'm part of an excellent team."

She points out that with the radio she carries she could summon help instantly from the police or security guards from the dozens of town centre stores which participate in the ambassador scheme.

Tense incidents, though, are a rarity. Instead most days are composed of dozens of little things which together have a significant impact.

Whether it's helping a harrassed mother struggling to get a pram up some steps, ensuring unsightly graffiti is removed or directing a lost visitor towards Debenhams, it all mounts up.

Every deed is logged at the end of the day and, where action is needed, followed up at a later date. Sharon and her fellow ambassador, Steve Williams, even have a hotline to the town hall to ensure the council sorts out anything she raises with them.

You can only admire her eagle-eyed attention to detail as she walks around. She knows every wobbly paving stone, notes every unemptied bin.

In a Crompton Place clothes store she observes three teenagers hovering suspiciously -- dressed in puffer jackets despite the hot weather -- and makes sure security guards are alert to the potential shoplifters.

As we return to the Market Place, she spies a cyclist diligently wheeling his bike through the town centre.

"There you go," she says happily. "We've nabbed him four times and now he's stopped doing it."