CCTV could be brought in after a vandalism epidemic on the outskirts of Colne.

Keighley Road residents are angry that every Saturday or Sunday night there are smashed car windscreens, wing mirrors wrenched from vehicles and thefts from gardens.

Gangs of rowdy drinkers, leaving Colne town centre on their way home to Laneshawbridge and Trawden, are thought to be responsible.

Vandals have also targeted pensioners living in the Standroyd Bungalows, off Keighley Road, and people living along nearby Winewall Road have also complained of similar behaviour.

Police and council chiefs have now pledged to bring a report to the next Pendle council Colne area comm-ittee, examining the possibility of increasing security along the route out of town.

Insp Ian Cooper, of Colne police, acknowledged that the road had become a hot spot' for vandalism and a number of complaints had recently been received.

He said: "CCTV would assist us but I believe that there is already work going on which will pot-entially bring mobile cameras to the area.

"That would an advantage but CCTV is just one solution and there are other issues which we need to look at."

Insp Cooper said he could not always commit two officers to monitor the situation every weekend, because resources were required across the town. But he told councillors and residents that he was confident that arrests would be made in the near future, once the situation was placed under review.

"These issues are getting to a point where they cannot be allowed to continue," added Insp Cooper.

Coun Ann Kerrigan said she had attended a recent police community action meeting and knew that the Keighley Road area was going to be a priority for local beat officers in the coming weeks.

Coun Tony Greaves said: "I think it is the same young adults who are going home, from the centre of Colne, who are doing this time and time again."

He believed it should be possible to identify the culprits - and possibly even catch them in the act.

Similar problems have also been reported with late-night vandalism in Cotton Tree Lane and Lidgett.