POLICE were out in Horwich on Friday night as a dispersal order is in place this weekend banning young people from gathering in the town.

The tough measures come following a spate of anti-social behaviour in the town.

Officers were also in the Westhoughton area.

Police have put in the dispersal order from Friday to Sunday to cover the whole of Horwich.

On Friday evening, Greater Manchester Police said: "Officers from the Bolton West Neighbourhood Team along with our Special Constables are out and about this evening in the Horwich and Westhoughton area in response to anti-social behaviour issues.

"A dispersal order is currently in place in Horwich."

The order came into effect from Friday at 8pm and will remain in place until Sunday at 8pm.

The drastic measure in which police can order people to leave the area is also designed to reduce anti-social behaviour in Horwich.

Commenting on the order earlier this week, Inspector David Johnston, from GMP's Bolton district, said: “I have been extremely concerned about an emerging problem of anti-social behaviour in the area which is fuelled mainly by large groups of young people gathering in Horwich Town Centre causing issues for local businesses, anti-social behaviour in Station Park disrupting the local community, and over this last weekend a large group of youths confronted officers whilst they were dealing with an incident in the town centre.

"This is unacceptable and clearly needs dealing with now to prevent such levels of disorder and before someone sustains a serious injury.

"Therefore, I have authorised the dispersal order for this weekend and we will have additional officers in the area to deter such behaviour and educate people. The last resort will be the use of the dispersal power, but if it is needed we will use it robustly.

"I would please ask parents to make sure that they know where their children are and ensure that they are not part of these groups who are in the minority and ruining our community.”

The order has been granted under Section 34 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, and allows for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and police officers to direct a person to leave the area specified within the order if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that their behaviour has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to members of the public.

Police have been carrying out patrols in Horwich in recent weeks to crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

Called Operation Arden, police along with Specials have been patrolling areas where young people congregate and cause annoyance.