POLICE have pledged extra support after a community in fear vowed to fight back against hooligans who terrorised their estate.

Officers faced a barrage of complaints as 100 angry residents at Kibble Bank, Burnley, voiced their concern after months of alleged assaults, intimidation, damage, loutish behaviour, drinking, drug use and all-night parties by a gang of teenagers.

An emergency meeting of the Kibble Bank Community Action Group heard of two serious late night assaults on passers-by who were beaten with baseball bats and broom handles, kicked and punched.

Residents' chairman Barbara Leyland spoke of her horror when she saw the victim thrown through a glass door and pulled back through the broken frame.

But she said the battered and bleeding man refused to call in police because he feared reprisals against himself and his neighbours.

Householders told how the "small minority" of hooligans were from outside the area and had forced the night-time closure of the all-weather pitch.

They had vandalised the local community centre and made it "a battleground", littering the outside area with beer cans and syringes.

Tenants' association chairman Jane Clegg said people had stopped reporting incidents to police because they saw that nothing was ever done to deal with complaints.

But Sgt Colin Hudson promised that things would change.

He said: "Things will improve in future. Something will be done - action will be taken."

Inspector John Grice said demand on police time meant officers had to prioritise their responses.

He said there was already evidence that a newly-introduced method of policing communities was paying off. He called on residents to be prepared to work with police by providing evidence which could be acted upon.

He said: "We are doing our level best to make things better on Kibble Bank."

Police, residents, park rangers, council community leaders and other agencies agreed to work together in a concerted effort to stamp out trouble.

Council community development manager Mike Waite, who co-chaired the meeting, said he was heartened by the positive commitment from police and everyone else to work together.

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