LOUTS who drive people out of Blackpool town centre are to be driven out themselves.

Inspector Kevin Boyce, the new man in charge of policing central Blackpool, is determined to turn the tide of anti-social behaviour which deters visitors, disheartens residents and lowers the resort's image.

Measures include:

police boarding coaches, especially those full of young men, to warn against trouble-making as they arrive in Blackpool;

more police on the beat at crucial times and in known trouble-spots;

encouraging shop owners to instal movement-sensitive lights to put off drunks from urinating in doorways;

uniformed police visiting problem pubs several times a day;

leaflets and posters in hotels and around town warning against drinking in the street, fighting, swearing, aggressive behaviour, littering and public urination.

"A community should be allowed to prosper and people should be allowed to go into town without fearing for their safety," said Insp Boyce. "People need to regain confidence in their community.

"For Blackpool to pick itself up we've got to attract back the people who came here in the 50s and 60s and remember happy times. My side of the bargain is to get the crime levels back to those of the 50s and 60s."

With a town centre crime rate more than 700 per cent the national average, Insp Boyce has a huge job to tackle - but he emphasises the police can only do it with help from other organisations, businesses, schools and the council.

The police are working with people who work in the town centre, like taxi drivers, shop owners, publicans and hoteliers, as well as its 5,500 residents, on joint anti-crime measures.

Blackpool Hotel and Guest House Association secretary Josie Hammond said: "It has to be a partnership of people working together to help the police do their job."

Several anti-crime operations are in the pipeline, including Operation Atlas, aimed at reducing car crime by a third by the end of the year, and Operation Aslan to reduce town centre disorder, particularly at weekends.

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