A TWIN approach is being taken to tackle anti-social behaviour at Accrington railway station, transport campaigners have been told.

Last December the Lancashire Telegraph reported how drug dealers and vandals had been plaguing the flagship station.

Now plans to install new CCTV cameras at Accrington have been welcomed by Community Rail Lancashire.

And British Transport Police has outlined how they are tackling louts who have turned up along the East Lancashire Line.

Pc Dax Byrne-Turner told a recent meeting of the East Lancashire Community Rail Partnership that community protection notices were now being used by officers to keep the peace.

The notices can be issued to troublemakers, ordering them to stay away from hotspots for a given period of time.

Trouble with drug-taking and youngsters climbing on the station parapet have also been reported by police at Mill Hill in Blackburn.

Campaigners hope that the CCTV, coupled with the anticipated security cameras, will have an effect.

A Community Rail Lancashire spokesman said: “The news that CCTV is to be installed to cover the platforms at Accrington station was welcomed.

“The station has been blighted by anti-social behaviour and repeated vandalism to the wooden eco-waiting shelter.”

Rail officials had previously highlighted issues with ‘out-of-sight’ drinking and drug-dealing there.

Transport police have been lobbying to remove the wooden shelter, which has been described as a “loitering point” for yobs over the past two years.

Last September three brothers who racially abused a police officer at Accrington station were hauled before the courts.

Sohail Arif, 19, of Burnley Road, was given a suspended prison sentence, after he was also convicted of having a knife, His brothers Rohail, 20, and Wasim, 21, were fined for racial disorder by magistrates and ordered to pay compensation.

Cllr Miles Parkinson, Hyndburn Council leader, has backed increased security for the station, insisting he does not want to see people deterred from travelling at the station, which has seen significant investment in recent years.

Bosses at rail operator Northern say the CCTV plans for Accrington form part of a multi-million pound improvement programme for the network.