PARENTS are to be shown video nasties of their children misbehaving in a bid to crackdown on juvenile nuisance.

Youngsters are already being taken to the police station to be collected by their parents if they are caught misbehaving on the streets of Hyndburn.

But now police are set to catch the youngsters' actions on film so their parents can be shown exactly what they are up to.

Hyndburn is set to get a new mobile CCTV unit next year, which will at first be used to target the borough's drug hotspots, but members of the public attending a meeting of Oswaldtwistle Area Council were assured it would also be used to record areas where youngsters congregate.

Officers already have access to smaller video cameras, which will be used to monitor gangs. When the scheme is launched early next year it will be the first time in Lancashire that parents will be shown their children misbehaving.

The initative was unveiled at the area council meeting this week when residents pressed the police on what they were doing to combat juvenile nuisance.

Juvenile nuisance can include rowdiness, under-age drinking, abusive behaviour and threatening actions.

Around 750 reports of juvenile nuisance are logged every year in the borough, making it one of the biggest headaches for police.

Inspector Phil Cottam, in charge of Accrington Police, said: "There are various methods we use, including high-profile policing and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders to reduce problems.

"But, from next year, we will be filming the children and then getting their parents to watch what they are doing.

"It is all about having shared responsibility. Parents needs to ask where their children are, what they are up to and what they are spending their money on.

"It is only a very small number of youngsters who are misbehaving but they do cause problems. Hopefully, if their parents see what they are up to the youngsters will not be able to give any excuses and the problems will be reduced."

Earlier this year, police in Oswaldtwistle were praised for cracking down on juvenile nuisance. By mounting high-profile walkabouts in the town centre, youngsters were taken to the cells if they did not co-operate with the police by only congregating in Rhyddings Park.

After residents complained of anti-social behaviour in the Park, council bosses funded a youth shelter in another park nearby. The future of the shelter will be determined in six months. Dozens of youngsters were taken to the cells, many of who were not from Oswaldtwistle. Police claimed parents from other towns had actually begun dropping their teenagers off in the streets on Oswaldtwistle because there were so many other youngsters around.

Sgt Ian Hanson, area sergeant for Oswaldtwistle, said: "We are aware that there have been problems again on Union Road, with some shop windows being smashed recently.

"We are now mounting high-profile evening patrols so people know we are around. If youngsters step out of line, they will be punished."

Coun Peter Britcliffe, chairman of Oswaldtwistle Area Council, said: "It is good to see this action being taken.

"As a shopkeeper myself, I know insurance companies take a dim view of people who are victims of vandalism and the like."