POLICE were called to deal with more than 1000 incidents in one night as New Year's celebrations went underway in East Lancashire.

Officers in Blackburn, Burnley, Darwen, Hyndburn, Pendle, Ribble Valley and Rossendale made a large number of arrests, broke up brawls and were forced to deal with a high number of domestic altercations.

The night of New Year's Eve ended with the police cells full at Blackburn and Preston custody suite.

A police spokesman said the arrests resulted from revellers' 'poor behaviour' during the night's celebrations.

Rubbish and litter was scattered around Blackburn town centre while the entrance doors to Blackburn Central Library, situated on Town Hall Street, were found smashed on the morning of New Year's Day.

Police were called out at least 20 times in Colne and West Craven alone.

One of the call outs included a report of 50 people fighting each other in a brawl on Market Street, Colne at around 4am on Sunday.

The melee, which actually involved 13 people, was broken up by officers and nearby pedestrians near a Market Street pub.

A paramedic was also called to the scene to treat a person who suffered a minor injury.

Police were later called to reports of a person who was found walking on the hard shoulder of the M65.

A young man spent half an hour kicking at 'his' door trying to get into 'his' house in Rossendale despite being on completely the wrong street, a police spokesman said.

Officers said the wouldn't listen or leave and became 'quite aggressive' and was later arrested.

PC Nigel Keates, of Colne and West Craven Police and was on duty during the New Years celebrations, said: "This New Year's Eve has been nowhere near as busy compared to previous years but obviously there were still some incidents that we had to deal with overnight.

"Thankfully there were only a small number of people being argumentative and too drunk.

"Some people, who save a large amount of alcohol for that one day, end up drinking more than they should do.

"There were a lot of verbal and domestic altercations and spme minor assaults took place overnight but nothing serious.

"One licensed premises closed earlier than they expected and the details have been taken in consultation with the licensing authority.

"One person broke into a shop premises in Colne and took some stock.

"It was not a happy new year for the owner despite him thanking us and wishing us a happy new year.

"There was another report of a dozen ready to fight in another pub.

"It turned out to be a nice early intervention and a good call, all of them calmed down some were sent on their way.

"The number of domestic altercations in the night was probably our biggest concern.

"Our message is that as a the police force we are here to protect the community and this is simply not acceptable.

A Lancashire Police spokesman added: "I have to say there was some very poor behaviour as the night progressed but to use a word we "held".

"Generally though I must say it was only a small number out of the masses celebrating but more than enough to test us.

"We had numerous domestic incidents, drink related incidents and a serious assault resulting in numerous young men missing out on their New Year celebrations.

"I'm sure they would have regretted their actions when they woke up in the cells in 2018."