POLICE want you to keep an eye on your neighbours to make sure they are not terrorists.

An awareness campaign called Life Savers has been launched to promote an anti-terrorist hotline and police want to hear from anyone who suspects people.

Peter Vaughan, the county's assistant chief constable, said: "Terrorists need places to live, vehicles to drive and people to help them. We are looking for a lifestyle that does not seem to add up.

"The public are urged to report any suspicions using the dedicated anti-terrorist hotline. All calls are treated in the strictest of confidence and fully researched before any action is taken."

The posters depict a pair of eyes and aim to remind people to stay alert. They will be sent out to businesses and public buildings such as libraries and council buildings.

A similar campaign was launched in London in March of this year.

Then, Assistant Commissioner David Veness of the Metropolitan Police, said that he understood that people might have reservations about contacting the police either because their friends or family may find out, or their suspicions may prove to have innocent explanations.

He said: "I would like to reassure people that all calls to the hotline are treated in the strictest confidence. We know that people who contact the hotline do so in good faith.

"All information received by the hotline is researched and investigated before any police action is taken. Please help us to decide if the information you have is valuable or not."

But civil liberties campaigner Andy Newman thinks that the campaign is misguided and that the police should concentrate on infiltrating terrorist organisations.

"I think it's a terrible idea," he said. "They did a similar scheme in America and it just resulted in a lot of people phoning up about neighbours who were just different from them. A lot of people have the pre-conception that Muslims are terrorists and may start making calls about their Muslim neighbours." He thinks the design of the poster, showing just a pair of women's eyes, may invoke an association with Muslim traditional dress and reinforce the idea that the majority of terrorists are Muslim.

"Any publicity about terrorism needs to be very sensitive not to inflame misconceived prejudices," he added.

"Since September 11, there have been an increase in racial attacks on Muslims, including in Swindon.

"We should be cautious about making any associations between people's religion and culture to the likelihood of them being terrorists.

"In a way something like this is a victory for the terrorists because we will become a less tolerant society, looking over our shoulder all the time and being suspicious of people who are a bit odd or have a different lifestyle.

"Also, it won't work. People who are terrorists are usually well-funded and operate underground."

The hotline is on 0800 789321.

Bhavani Vadde