CRIME-FIGHTING community safety wardens could soon be back on the streets of Accrington if a new plan to provide cash for the scheme gets the go-ahead.

Members of Hyndburn Council plan to present the borough's crime and disorder strategy group with a proposal which could mean government funding will be available to part finance a return of the popular officers.

Earlier this year, the steering group decided not to bid for part of a £13million jackpot made available by the Home Office for such schemes after they were told the police had no money to match funding the initiative.

Accrington town centre, they later discovered, was also ineligible for funding from the scheme because crime is falling in that area. Money is only available where crime is rising.

Now members of Accrington's town centre regeneration board have presented a new proposal which involves bidding for funding to put wardens on the streets of west Accrington, where crime is rising. Council leader Peter Britcliffe said: "We propose to bid for funding for west Accrington, match fund it with Single Regeneration Bid money which was given to us for that area and then top that up so we can pull some of the wardens into the town centre.

"That would place us in the ideal position of tackling crime in West Accrington, while also being able to make people feel more secure when shopping in the town centre."

When it was revealed earlier this year that no bid had been made for funding, concerns were raised by councillors and traders that the town had missed out.

Accrington pioneered the community safety wardens scheme when they launched a scheme in the town centre in 1994. The civilian volunteers patrolled the town centre and alerted the police to disturbances as well as making citizens' arrests and deterring crooks.

They were scrapped three years later when funding ran out. The Government wants to roll out similar schemes across the country.

The funding plan will be presented to the next meeting of the crime and disorder panel. Details of the next round of bidding are due to be announced soon.

Coun Britcliffe added: "We all share the enthusiasm for community wardens. Hopefully, we will be able to bring them back."

There has been a reported 50 per cent rise in crime since the wardens were scrapped.

Picture: Former community wardens who helped make the town a better place to live