POLICE chiefs fear violence and crime could mar millennium celebrations in Blackpool.

All Lancashire's police divisions have been given extra cash to ensure the night passes safely, and to cope with the after effects of the Millennium Bug.

The Lancashire force has been planning its role for more than a year with a team dedicated to ensure public safety.

Chorley's police and community forum has already been visited by the Year 2000 project team, which gave a presentation on their plans a month ago.

An extra £100,000 has been added to the budget for policing the big night in Lancashire, making a total of £600,000.

Police will also work with other agencies, including the fire and ambulance services, as well as the borough and county councils to ensure that essential services are still up and running.

Superintendent Bernard Kershaw, head of the Year 2000 team, said "Our objective is to ensure that the public enjoy the celebrations safely.

"We can't say with any certainty what will happen, but we will do what is necessary to ensure that services can be delivered."

He added: "We're not expecting major problems such as utility failure, but we have to be prepared for what might happen."

Originally, all police leave and rest days were cancelled for the Millennium. Although some leave has now been restored, police are reassuring the public that sufficient resources are available to deal with any crisis.

Paul Stephenson, deputy chief constable of Lancashire Police, said: "The Millennium weekend will be very challenging for all of us.

"We are expecting Lancashire to enjoy a happy and peaceful New Year period, without major disruption."

For the first time, pubs will be able to stay open through the night, from 11am on December 31 to 11pm on January 1.

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