POLICE have announced that the first towns to be visited during a mobile police unit tour of Hyndburn will be Oswaldtwistle and Baxenden to tackle juvenile nuisance problems.

Officers are to visit areas of Hyndburn outside the town centre for week-long stays during the summer with a mobile station, in a bid to tackle crime and improve community relations.

The move comes after a special unit set up in Accrington centre to help cut back on the seasonal rise in pick-pocketing and theft proved to be a great success.

The first siting in this new venture is planned for July 15 to July 22 in Oswaldtwistle, although an exact location has not been determined. Sergeant Joe Worden said: "We hope that the introduction of the mobile station will help to reduce juvenile problems as well as general anti-social behaviour and we will also be issuing fixed penalties.

"But the public perception is that youth problems upset them the most, so we are looking to reassure them that we are there and we are accessible to the public."

The next visit will be to Baxenden, although an exact date has not been scheduled. Police bosses also plan to expand these visits to areas such as Church and Huncoat in order to cut down on problems such as juvenile nuisance and help to build relations with local people.

The highest priority is to have most presence in areas that are a bit further away from the main police station in Accrington.

And it is hoped that this increased presence by the police, along with the regular police station on Manchester Road, will put off criminals and help reassure local people.

Teams operating from the mobile unit, a 30ft-long trailer used as a mobile incident unit and communications room during big investigations, will be led by the Accrington-based sergeant who normally operates that area, so residents can meet face to face with their local police officer.