A GROUP of more than 300 teenagers were dispersed after they couldn’t get into an open mic night at a Burnley nightspot.

Special constables from Lancashire Police helped to manage the crowd as part of their weekly Friday night Community Alcohol Network (CAN) patrols.

The CAN initiative sees teams go out across the county on a Friday night to target underage drinkers and vulnerable youths.

On Friday, the Lancashire Telegraph joined the team in Burnley on the operation, including helping with the crowd outside the event at the Kestrel Suite.

Special Inspector Luke Davis said: “A large event within the town centre saw 500 youths attending an open mic night with 200 tickets.

“We had over 300 disappointed and some intoxicated youths to disper se.”

A 16-year-old boy was found drunk at the scene, unable to speak or walk. Police called his parents who collected him from the scene.

Earlier in the evening officers had attended a park in Mitella Street where a group of around 20 teenagers had gathered.

None of the youths had alcohol on them.

And officers spoke to the children’s parents to confirm their stories, with the parents impressed by the work the team were doing.

Two 12-year-old girls were returned home late in the night after they were found to be out with a group of mixed age and sex.

During the night around five litres of alcohol was seized from underage drinkers.

And 586 youths were spoken to and 15 vehicles were stopped.

One adult was given a fixed penalty notice for buying alcohol for youths and a fake ID card was seized.