ALCOHOL could be banned from parks following the murder of Sophie Lancaster in a bid to avoid another "senseless tragedy".

A Rossendale councillor has made the call - and a ban has also been backed for Burnley and Pendle by the boroughs' council leaders.

Sophie, 20, died after being kicked and stamped on by two booze-fuelled teenage thugs in Stubbylee Park, Bacup.

And in Burnley there have been three violent attacks in parks this month.

Bacup councillor Jimmy Eaton said: "I have been trying to get alcohol banned from the parks.

"Alcohol seems to have been a contributing factor.

"Young people go down in droves and the next day the park is littered with beer cans and empty bottles of wine.

"One man rang me up the other day to say there was a syringe next to the skate park. It will only get worse when the weather improves.

"When I was young it was clashes between the Teddy Boys, the Mods and the Rockers but if there was a fight people knew when enough was enough - there was none of this stamping on people and kicking them to death.

"This has been a senseless tragedy. Alcohol affects people in different ways. Some people just turn vicious and we seem to be seeing more of that."

In Burnley this month, father-of-seven Mohammed Shafiq died after being stabbed in the stomach and hit over the head in Thompson Park.

In the same park, a 17-year-old boy was beaten with a stick and mugged by two youths.

And a masked man also attacked a 16-year-old at Woodchip Park in Brunshaw Road.

The incidents prompted Burnley police and council bosses to step up patrols in the parks and launch a review of security.

Burnley Council leader Gordon Birtwistle backed the alcohol ban call. He said: "We do have problems with people drinking in the parks - and the people who do this are usually from the unruly yob fraternity. They cause havoc for people who want to use the park for legitimate reasons.

"Banning alcohol from the smaller parks is an excellent idea. If it cuts down on trouble then it is something worth looking at."

Coun Alan Davis, leader of Pendle Council, said an alcohol ban would be something for area committees to think about.

He added: "I think it would be a good idea if it were necessary but I am not aware of any problems in our parks."

Kate Conoy-Greenwood, a spokesperson for the SOPHIE (Stamp Out Prejudice Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere) campaign which was set up after her death, said: "Anything that keeps people safe has got to be a worth looking into. But if laws are going to be introduced then they have to be enforced too."

Last week 15-year-old Brendan Harris, of Spring Terrace, Bacup, was found guilty of Sophie's murder.

He had drunk two litres of cider, peach schnapps and a bottle of Stella Artois lager before the attack.

Harris and Ryan Herbert, 16, of Rossendale Crescent, Bacup, who had previously pleaded guilty to murder, set about Sophie and her boyfriend Robert Maltby, 21, like a pair of 'savage and merciless' animals.

They were targeted for dressing like goths. Sophie died two weeks later.

Robert has since made a partial recovery.

Herbert and Harris will be sentenced next month.