POLICE in Burnley are stamping down on damage and boozy behaviour in one of the town's most popular parks.

Extra police and park anger patrols are being carried out in Towneley Park following complaints about under-age drinking and damage to trees and golf courses.

Police said over the past two weekends around 100 litres of alcohol had been seized from youths gathering in the park and 12 young people have received warnings through the Youth Referral Scheme.

One 14-year-old girl was taken to hospital after drinking too much.

Community beat manager PC John Fisher, who patrols the Burnley Wood and Rosehill areas, has hit out at the youths, their parents, and the people supplying them with booze.

He said: "Towneley is a beautiful park and we will not see it wrecked by drunken youths.

"Extra patrols are in operation, confiscating alcohol and where necessary taking action against the youths gathering in the park.

"We are extremely concerned about the situation - damage is being caused by youths using trees to light fires and shelters and items on the golf course have been damaged.

"The welfare of these young people is at risk too, with at least one having to have hospital treatment as a result of their boozy antics."

He said that as well as drunken behaviour, there was also concern about drug use with police finding signs of cannabis.

PC Fisher said: "This is not the image we want to portray of local youths - the majority of them are law abiding and steer clear of drugs and alcohol. However, clearly there is a small minority determined to get their kicks however they can - either by drinking far too much alcohol or by smoking cannabis.

"For the sake of their children, I would local parents to make sure they know where their kids are at night, what they are up to and how they are spending their money.

"I would also appeal for off-licences to be vigilant - we suspect that these youths are asking older teenagers to buy alcohol for them.

"If older teenagers are repeatedly buying alcohol we want to know about it. If we can catch them and prove they are handing over the booze to younger kids, then we can either fine or prosecute them."