A BEAT bobby will patrol Darwen town centre until 2am at weekends to reassure licensees and people enjoying a night out.

Community policing for the town centre has traditionally ceased at midnight, although officers from the nearby police station have still monitored the area and responded to incidents.

But now a member of the neighbourhood policing team will be patrolling the streets until 2am on Fridays and occasionally on Saturdays.

The decision has come following the recent appointment of PC Simon Harwood as community beat manager for the town centre and Belgrave areas.

PC Harwood, who joined the Lancashire Constabulary nearly 22 years ago, consulted with his colleagues and all the licensed premises in the town centre to discuss the community's needs.

He said: "There are no particular issues which have led to this decision.

"Darwen is a good, safe environment for people to enjoy themselves.

"But after consultation with the neighbourhood policing team sergeant, John Cisco, and Chief Insp Alice Knowles, and after discussion with all of Darwen town centre's licensed premises, we felt that there were needs of the town centre community which were not being addressed"

PC Harwood said the new licensing laws allowing premises to trade for longer meant people were in the town centre much later.

He said: "Because people are in the town centre for longer we felt that they deserved to have the reassurance of a uniform police presence, just as they have during the day.

"I personally visited all the licensed premises in the town centre. We have agreed with them that we will not only walk the streets but enter the establ-ishments to talk to bar staff, to landlords and, most importantly, meet the public."

Reg Gorton, owner of the Roxy Nichtclub and Bar Java, and founding member of the Bar U Association said PC Harwood would be a great asset.

He said: "The people of Darwen need to know that there is someone who cares about what happens in the town."

Andrew McAllister, president of Darwen Chamber of Trade, welcomed the decision, saying: "I think it will make a massive difference.

"We need as many eyes on the ground as we can get."

  • To contact the town centre policing team call 01254 222135.