DRUNKEN violence in and around Accrington pubs is to be combated with the launch of a Radio Pub Link Scheme.

Eight town centre pubs will go "live" tomorrow and the new scheme provides registered door supervisors with a hand-held radio that they can use to contact the police directly if trouble starts.

The radio transmissions are then picked up by CCTV operators at Accrington Police Station, who can then deploy officers to the scene of any incident.

The scheme has been running as a pilot in the Arcade Bar in Warner Street since the start of May and has already made an impact.

Two arrests have been made, one for assault and the other for theft, as a direct result of information from the door supervisors being passed via the radio link.

The initiative is being supported by town centre manager Bill Huntly. He said: "We want to ensure that the town centre is a vibrant and enjoyable place to visit. We also want to encourage sensible drinking in pubs."

This view was supported by Sergeant Julian Platt, the officer responsible for the town centre. He said: "The radio link is about different agencies working together to achieve the same goals. Accrington hasn't got a major disorder problem, but when the incidents do occur they tend to be quite serious.

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"We aim to give support to the licensees by challenging anti-social behaviour and by involving the door supervisors with the radio link, we can get information very quickly and respond to that." The scheme, which is an extension of the successful Hyndburn Association of Retail Traders Radio Link operating in the town since November 1998, has been co-ordinated by PC Les Sholicar, the licensing officer for Accrington.