DRUNKEN yobs face being booted out of Lancaster city centre if they misbehave.

Police are fed up with the same people causing problems in the city - but they are determined to stop the trouble-makers in their tracks.

They now plan to hit persistent drunks with tough bail conditions which will ban them from the city and pubs.

A similar scheme operates with shoplifters in Huddersfield, where persistent thieves are banned from entering that town.

And Sup't Michael Marron says that while Lancaster is one of the safest places to drink in the country any trouble is generally down to the same few individuals.

"We have been handing out penalty notices for disorder for a while now and they are working because we are giving fewer and fewer out each week," he says.

"But we want to make sure that people can safely enjoy the city centre and if people behave violently - and if they have done so before - we will impose bail conditions preventing them from entering the area.

"They then cannot drink in the pubs and cannot cause problems for people just wanting to have a good time. The initiative worked well over Christmas and we expect it to do so over New Year as well."

A police spokesman told the Citizen that between December 23 and December 29, 116 people were arrested in Lancaster and Morecambe for all types of offences - but among them were 33 penalty notices for disorder.

The spokesman says: "I think that is encouraging. It shows that we are stamping down on trouble in the city centre."