The November meeting of the parish council was held on Tuesday in the Reading Rooms, Worsthorne.

Councillor Mark Jinkinson chaired the meeting in the absence of Councillor Pauline Frost-Hardwick who was unable to attend due to family matters.

Councillors Duncan Baldwin, Jim Leaver and Scott Walsh were also present and Councillor David Heginbotham sent his apologies.

PCSO Dave Johnson provided an update on the crime statistics for the month and County Councillor Margaret Brindle gave an update on county council issues.

PCSO Johnson reported that there had been four crimes and eight incidents last month compared with six crimes and 15 incidents last year. A couple of youths have been caught tormenting a vulnerable resident who had been targeted previously.

They have been warned and will now be expected to sign an Acceptable Behaviour Contract.

The Acceptable Behaviour Contract does not contain anything that would not normally be considered as acceptable behaviour, however he went on to explain that a breach of an ABC would then result in a formal Anti-Social Behaviour Order being applied for.

Breach of a formal Anti-Social Behaviour Order could then result in a criminal record, something both the parish council and police hope to avoid, but have agreed is necessary to ensure residents are not subjected to the kind of behaviour witnessed.

PCSO Johnson went on to explain the new ‘In the Know’ messaging scheme being operated in Lancashire.

The scheme offers residents the means to receive information from the police and other agencies in the county.

Residents set their own preferences for the type of information they would like to receive by setting the content, locality and means of communication.

There are no contracts and no cost or obligations and to get involved you only have to complete a simple registration.

For further information, visit www.registration.lancashire.police.uk/registration.