A NUMBER of magistrates have carried out late-night investigations of Chorley town centre - which they described as one of the most intimidating and lawless places in the county!

Under-age drinking, vandalism and drunken young people urinating and vomiting in the street, are said to be regular sights late on Friday and Saturday nights.

But borough councillor Steve Holgate, chairman of Chorley's Police and Community Forum, has his sights set on a clean up.

He said a number of leading members of the community - including some magistrates - had approached him to voice their concerns.

He revealed the magistrates had informally monitored the situation.

"This late night activity has been brought to my attention by a number of leading citizens and the public.

"It seems to me that almost anything goes at the moment and I have seen no attempt to stop people drinking on the street, carrying drinks between pubs and discarding bottles and glasses in the street."

The issue of trying to stop drinking in public places is one which the council's licensing sub-committee is trying to tackle.

The committee met Chorley Police on a number of occasions in the past 18 months over how to produce a workable ban on drinking in public places, but with little success.

Mr Holgate says it is time for action: "I have been asked to have this matter discussed at the next meeting of the police and community forum and I will be asking the secretariat to find time on a future agenda to have this problem debated and hopefully resolved."

However Chorley Police said: "As far as the police are concerned, there does not appear to be a major problem in Chorley.

"The town centre pubs are part of the PubWatch scheme and we would expect licensees and their staff to be vigilant and check identification if they became suspicious of a person's age."

Mr Holgate responded to the statement by saying: "There is a problem. The general public believe there is.

"I have had a lot of complaints by the public and I want this issue sorted out."

Councillor Bob Crabtree, chairman of the commercial development committee, shares Mr Holgate's views.

He said: "The situation in the town centre is very worrying. It is a no-go area for a vast majority of people.

"We want Chorley to be a bustling, thriving town centre for everyone, regardless of age, to enjoy."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.