YOUNG people living at a homeless centre in Blackburn have been warned they face prosecution for setting off fire alarms late at night.

Fire crews have been called to the Blackburn with Darwen Foyer, in Feilden Street, Blackburn, twice in the last week.

And fire officers have today pleaded with the 30-plus residents at the centre to stop ignoring the alarms when they go off, claiming that lives could be put at risk.

Yesterday, staff at the Foyer said they had given fire investigators video evidence that could lead to a police prosecution.

The Foyer is designed so that only residents and staff can get inside the premises at night. No friends of residents are allowed in overnight.

Within weeks of the £3.6million foyer opening in the summer, fire crews had tackled a serious chip pan fire.

But since then the Foyer has been troubled with regular, malicious false alarms and since Sunday, there have been two.

Sub-officer Allistair McLean, of Blackburn fire station, said: "Whenever we are called to a false alarm, it means that another life in a fire somewhere else could be at risk.

"When we were called there on Sunday, we were stuck there for two hours because of a fault on the alarm system and we can't leave a building like that before the fire alarm is fixed.

"The police are now involved because the calls have become so frequent.

"What is particularly worrying is that because of the frequency of the false alarms, some of the residents aren't leaving their bedrooms.

"They must leave as soon as they hear the alarm."

Unlike other homeless accommodation, the Foyer is only open to 16 to 25-year-olds who agree to work to an action plan designed to include training and the teaching of skills which will enable them to go on and live by themselves. This includes training at Blackburn College.

It has 34 single-person apartments, 20 of which are now in use after young people were referred to the project by social services, education services, homeless schemes and, in some cases, by the young people themselves.

Although there are more than 90 foyer schemes elsewhere in the country, Blackburn's is the first to include integrated accommodation for single parents without a home.

A spokesman for the foyer said: "The Blackburn with Darwen Foyer is working with the Lancashire Fire Service by providing video evidence of the culprits with a view to being prosecuted.

"St Vincent's Housing Associations, which owns the Foyer, has comprehensive health and safety procedures, which incorporate an evacuation procedure. All residents are informed of the procedure and told what to do in the event of a fire."

Earlier this year, manager Kerry Harmer said that tenants knew that bad behaviour would not be accepted inside the Foyer.