AN EASTER crackdown on drunkenness has got Padiham publicans frothing with anger.

Burnley police today launched Operation Fizz -- but their letter calling for co-operation from licensees has fallen as flat as a poor pint with Padiham landlords, who do not believe there is any need for the major drive in their town.

They are accusing police of being out of touch and oblivious to the fact that a successful Pubwatch scheme to clamp down on troublemakers has been operating in Padiham for the last five years.

Padiham Pubwatch organiser Coun Granville Lord said: "The letter makes no mention of Padiham and puts us in the same class as Burnley, where there is no Pubwatch.

"We already run Pubwatch with regular meetings with police. There is a telephone network between pubs in the town, and we have photographs of known troublemakers in our public houses -- we don't need police swooping on us."

He added: "The landlords are angry and rightly so."

In the letter to all pubs in the Burnley area Inspector Steve Hartley heading the drive against drunkenness and disorder, tells landlords: "The licensing team may be visiting your premises over the Easter fortnight and will be assessing amongst other things the numbers of people in the building, the number of drunken people requesting alcohol and the response by bar staff and where door staff are members of the door registration scheme."

Inspector Hartley adds that in future police hope to launch a Pubwatch scheme. Town centre Bridge Inn licensee Joe Atkinson said: "My letter was addressed to a Stanley Drinkwater, even though I have been landlord for the past 12 years -- the police are completely out of touch."

He added: "I am very angry and so are other licensees in Padiham.

"We run a good Pubwatch scheme and we don't need it tinkering with by the police -- they will cause trouble not prevent it."

Coun Lord added: "We don't have thugs or drugs in Padiham and we don't need the police telling us how to run our social lives."

He added: "They can't even get the name of a landlord right. Drinkwater? If that's their idea of a joke, we are not amused!.

Inspector Hartley aid today he accepted the criticism, adding that with 150 pubs in the Burnley borough area, the police could not tailor the covering letter to apply to the situation in each individual district.

He added: "We accept that Padiham is leading the way in this and there is much we can learn from the way that town is dealing with this problem.

"At the end of the day, we do not wish to be confrontational -- only to work together with them on this matter.

"If anyone is upset, I would be more than happy to talk with them to sort things out."

Operation Fizz will see police and partners --including the council, fire brigade, taxi drivers, licensees and Burnley town centre owners Portland -- working to get home the message that drinking should be in moderation for maximum enjoyment.