POLICE in Great Harwood are cracking down on underage drinking in a bid to curb anti-social behaviour.

The initiative has been launched to try to cut the number of incidents of drink related nuisance in the area.

There have been a number of recent complaints about noise when drunken youngsters have been congregating on housing estates.

Police say many of the problems arise because youngsters are buying alcohol from off-licences or having it bought for them by older people.

The scheme is also a bid to reduce the number of incidents of children drinking too much alcohol.

In one incident a few weeks ago, a young girl was found in Cutwood Park, Rishton and taken to hospital because she had consumed so much alcohol.

The clampdown, being launched this weekend, will enlist the co-operation of all the off-licence premises in Great Harwood, Rishton and Clayton-le-Moors.

Each shop will be asked to adopt a policy of asking for photographic identification from anyone who looks under 18.

In addition, anyone suspected of buying alcohol for juveniles will be refused. In both cases, details will be passed to the police.

PC Mark Skelton, who is co-ordinating the scheme, said: "The main aim of the initiative is to reduce drink-related incidents in our area. We are also trying to help avoid occurences where children are being seriously affected by the amount of alcohol they are drinking."

Insp Steve Lee, the area inspector for Great Harwood, added: "Primarily, we want to cut the amount of drink-fuelled juvenile nuisance in the towns."

The launch is being publicised by a poster campaign and is expected to run for the foreseeable future.