POLICE in Colne, Barnoldswick and Earby are offering local communities the chance to find out more about the work of local officers and what is being done to reduce crime.

An open meeting will be held at 7pm on Thursday, March 27, at West Craven High School, when they will tackle key issues of concern, like drug-dealing and ant-social behaviour.

The meeting is one of a series of four to be held in the Colne, Barnoldswick and Earby area during the next 12 months, following a similar successful meeting in Nelson earlier this year.

Superintendent Steve Hartley, operations manager at Pennine Police, said: "We are introducing the new community meetings right across Pennine Division in order to improve communication with local residents and give them a better insight into our work.

"We are particularly keen to show our local communities exactly what is being done in their area to tackle crime and to show them how important their input is, by illustrating just what we can do as a result of information received from the public.

"Previous meetings elsewhere in the division have been very well attended and we have received some excellent feedback from residents, who were astounded at the scope and level of activity being undertaken to tackle crime.

"People attending the meeting will get to see first-hand how we deal with suspected offenders and find out more about some of the ongoing initiatives underway in their area to help crack crime and disorder problems."