ONE of the teenagers behind a contoversial website today insisted that he and his friends were no longer filming dangerous stunts.

The 17-year-old, from Darwen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said new footage which appeared recently on the Live Now Die Later site was filmed around a year ago.

The Evening Telegraph reported last week how the website, based on MTV's controversial Jackass show, was running again, with previously unseen footage after police had shut it down.

The webiste shows clips of youngsters being set on fire and a youth having his eyelids safety-pinned shut.

But the youth said: "Me and my friends are not doing any stunts anymore, we just take pictures of ourselves having a laugh. The website is popular and used to get hundreds of hits over a couple of days.

"But it stopped getting as many hits after the police closed it down.

"When it was relaunched I used old footage on my computer that had never been used before. People keep saying I'm the ringleader. I edit some images and do some templates but I don't actually run it. I wish the police would stop picking on me."

He also insisted he and his friends had always been willing participants in the stunts.

"We are all good friends and we just like to have a bit of a laugh. You can see from the website that everyone is laughing." Referring to what happened when Darwen schoolboy Joe Armstrong, of Tunnel Street, was badly burned filming a stunt in April 2004, he said: "A lot of people blame me for what happened but it was just an accident. Joe was a good mate of mine at the time and I was sad to see him get hurt."

The college student said he hoped to get on to a film and media studies course to put his film-making talents to better use.

Police, who have linked the website to ant-social behaviour in Darwen, have launched an investigation into the "new" footage, which has appeared on the site.

The teenager was given a conditional discharge in November after pleading guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm and igniting an aerosol with intent to injure.

A police spokesman said it did not matter how long ago filming took place and that new charges could still be brought if any of the behaviour was considered criminal.