BANK holiday boozers heading for Accrington on Sunday night have been warned - you will be watched.

Extra police will be on patrol in the town centre, which is known throughout East Lancashire as a Sunday night magnet for revellers, in a bid to reduce drunken behaviour and stamp out booze-fuelled fights.

The pre-emptive strike has been launched to ensure drinkers taking advantage of the extra day off on Monday can enjoy their night out in peace.

PC Steve Hilton, a member of Accrington police's new town centre team, has been involved in planning Sunday's innitiative.

He said: "We tend to have a big public order problem in Accrington town centre at weekends and with there being a Bank Holiday on Monday we expect a busy Sunday night as well.

"To compensate for this we will be drafting in extra bobbies, both on foot and in cars, for the town centre on Sunday night, as well as the assistance of the operational support unit to deal with any public order problems. And the dog section will also be available for deployment in the town centre."

PC Hilton said behaviour in Accrington town centre had mellowed somewhat since the council installed security cameras.

He said: "Public order offences in the town centre have calmed somewhat since we got the CCTV network but we still get our fair share of problems at weekends. This could be worse this Sunday as most people will be off work the next day.

"To combat this we will have a high profile in the town centre to reduce public order problems."