A FORMER British National Party councillor has become the only person in Burnley to be banned by law from a town centre pub.

Gas engineer Luke Smith, 22, faces jail if he goes into Yates Wine Lodge in the next nine months.

He was made subject of a rarely-used Licensed Premises Exclusion Order after two outbursts of violence at the premises in one night.

Smith was already banned from Yates and other town centre pubs under a voluntary Pubwatch scheme involving landlords and the police, but not the courts. He is believed to be the only person to have been made subject of a pub exclusion order in the town for about 20 years.

The defendant, of Brunshaw Road, Burnley, admitted damage and threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, on March 6. He was fined £300, with £79 compensation and £50 costs. He has previous convictions for wounding and threatening behaviour.

Andy Robinson, prosecuting, told the court that at about 9.30pm, Smith went into Yates Wine Lodge with two others. A barman refused to serve the trio and the manager asked them to leave. The employee went to alert police on the community radio.

Smith, who left the BNP in disgrace after fighting at a party rally at Sawley in the Ribble Valley, then threw a Red Square vodka bottle towards the bar and it glanced off a staff member's arm and smashed an optic.

Mr Robinson said the defendant was then seen striking the bar pumps, knocking one off, and left the pub before the manger returned with security staff.

About an hour and 15 minutes later, Smith returned with a bottle of Smirnoff Ice. He went and spoke to the barman who had earlier refused to serve him.

Smith said: "I'm sorry about what happened before," and then flung the bottle at him, missing him but hitting the wall. The bottle smashed.

Dylan Bradshaw, defending, said like many young single men, Smith liked to unwind at weekends by drinking in and around Burnley. He had a criminal record but it was not significant compared to others his age.

He accepted what happened was inexcusable and out of order, but he later voluntarily went to the police station. He fully admitted his participation when officers may not have been able to prove it.