AS the Christmas shopping season swings into full gear, businesses in Blackburn are working with the police to make sure the town is safe for visitors.

Additional funding has been earmarked to provide increased support to ensure a trouble-free experience for families and to protect vulnerable people. The measures are being funded by levies from traders that are above and beyond the daily core business provided by Lancashire Police.

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Additional high-visibility patrols will be deployed throughout December at highlighted hotspots during peak evening times to address anti-social behaviour, early evening drinking, shoplifting offences and purse thefts.

Other initiatives include the Can Safe operation, which will focus on safeguarding vulnerable young people who may be drinking alcohol, taking drugs, experimenting with harmful highs or be at risk from child sexual exploitation.

Police will also be working with trading standards to identify pubs selling to underage drinkers.

Details of prolific shoplifters have been circulated to traders via the online DISC system, which is available to all Business Improvement District levy payers. Town Centre Sergeant Nick Everett said: “Our main concern is the safety of people in the town centre. “We are working with the Blackburn BID to provide a full package of measures that cover a family from leaving home, to walking round the town and The Mall, making their purchases, using the car parks and returning home by car, by taxi or by bus. “We want to make sure that they are safe and their purchases are safe and the whole experience is a pleasant one.”

Other core police activity this Christmas includes personal safety and security advice for shoppers by providing jingle bells for purses, as well as a multi-agency operation to target shisha premises and breathalyser tests on the roads.

Harriet Roberts, Blackburn BID manager said: “An important piece of the Be Surprised campaign we are promoting is around perceptions of the town centre as a place that people feel safe.

“Looking ahead to next year, we are looking at a variety of methods of increasing people’s feeling of wellbeing in the town.”

The Blackburn BID was set up with shops, businesses and police in the town centre with the aim of promoting Blackburn as a vibrant town centre, create a safer, more secure area, create a sustainable, cleaner and more attractive environment, and to attract and support businesses. It works alongside the council.