A fed-up former parish councillor says more needs to be done to tackle anti-social behaviour among youths and teens in his town.

Craig McBeth, who up until recently represented Trawden Parish Council, said he has had little response from the police on the ongoing issues with groups of youths wreaking havoc in Colne and its surrounding areas.

Mr McBeth, who said he was assaulted last year, and has witnessed several anti-social behaviour incidents, such as vandalism and criminal damage, committed by teens in the town, said: "Since my assault late last year I have been emailing councillors and the police every time a similar incident involving anti-social teens comes up in the area.

"Sadly I have had little response."

Taxis and parents seen dropping kids at wooded area so they can party and take drugs

The majority of the trouble in Colne seemed to be centred around the summer months, when groups of youths were caught partying and smoking cannabis in wooded areas, as well as launching stones and other objects at moving cars.

This culminated in a dispersal order being put in place in August, but this did not stop the anti-social behaviour.

The problems with anti-social teens in Colne is ongoing

The problems with anti-social teens in Colne is ongoing

Mr McBeth said he bore the brunt of such activity, after stones were launched at his car and he was the victim of an unfortunate assault.

He added: "The locals know there is a problem and the police are either ignorant to it or unable to do anything.

Control your kids warning as Colne teenagers caught launching objects at cars

"Nothing seems to be being done to apprehend these repeat offenders - the police don't seem to take it seriously and some councillors just want to reward bad kids with treats to get them off the streets, instead of sending social services round to address troubled families.

"The police are here to protect the community, councillors are here to serve the community. Both are seriously failing on this issue."

48-hour dispersal order to stop teenagers partying in wooded area in Colne

However, Pendle Borough Councillor, Cllr Margaret Foxley said issues were being dealt with behind the scene, and solving the problems wasn't as simple as just punishing the youngsters.

The problems with anti-social teens in Colne is ongoing

The problems with anti-social teens in Colne is ongoing

She said: "I am extremely concerned about these incidents.

"Since Christmas I have been working with the police to address some of these issues using a restorative approach.

"Our Colne police officers have worked hard to identify some of these young people and have visited their homes and informed their parents of the action that is likely to be taken.

"I am presently negotiating with a victim, the offending youths and their families, all of which were identified by the police, to deal with one of the recent incidents.

"As you can appreciate, all of this is made particularly difficult by the restrictions in place at this time.

Police warning over teens 'sneaking off into the woods for a quiet spliff'

"I attended a meeting last week with youth workers and members of the Children and Family Wellbeing Service team to put things in place with regard to working with some of these identified youths and helping to address the needs of troubled families.

The problems with anti-social teens in Colne is ongoing

The problems with anti-social teens in Colne is ongoing

"There is a great deal happening behind the scenes and there are confidentiality and safe guarding issues which need to be respected.

"Rest assured many people are working hard to prevent these kind of incidents and anti-social behaviour from escalating."