A COUNTY councillor today called for instant fines to be introduced for town centre drinkers in Burnley.

Terry Burns said penalties should be brought in to deter people from breaking a proposed ban on drinking alcohol in the street.

Coun Burns, who represents Burnley's north east ward, made the call after the death of teenage Nottingham Forest supporter Nathan Shaw.

Nathan, 17, died after an incident close to Yates's Wine Lodge in St James's Street as rival football fans enjoyed a pre-match drink before the game against Burnley at Turf Moor in December.

Coun Burns, who has represented the ward for the last 12 years, said he wanted to see glasses and glass bottles banned from use outside pubs and on the streets and on-the-spot fines for anyone caught breaking the ban.

He also called for 'alco-pop' drinks to be served in plastic bottles only.

The council and police are working on plans to make it a criminal offence to drink from an open alcohol container in the street.

A system of fines is currently being piloted in other parts of the country.

Dave Croll, Burnley town centre police inspector, said: "The government is awaiting the outcome and evaluation of those pilot schemes to see whether it is feasible to expand nationally."

But Coun Burns has written to the chairman of the Burnley Licensed Victuallers' Association and landlord of the Forester's Arms Mike Igoe. Home Secretary David Blunkett, Chief Constable of Lancashire Paul Stephenson and leader of Burnley Borough Council Stuart Caddy, asking for support for the campaign.

But his ideas have been dismissed as "unrealistic, impractical and unenforceable" by the LVA.

County Coun Burns said he had personal experience of violent incidents in the town centre involving glass.

It included an attack on his nephew and an assault on a friend of his 19-year-old son.

He said: "I would like to see support for a campaign for glass bottles and glass drinking vessels that are used outside public houses and on the streets to be banned.

"Police already have the power to return people into public houses when seen drinking in the street but I do not think that this is strong enough.

"If people were faced with on the spot fines for drinking alcohol on the street, it may very well reduce the number of incidents in Burnley town centre, the majority of which I believe are totally unprovoked."

He added: "I have three children, two of whom are teenagers. My middle son, who is 15, is a very keen football supporter and I would like to feel that when he attends a football match and has to walk through the town centre that he is safe."

Mike Igoe said: "While Burnley Licensed Victuallers' Association is in favour of reducing violence in Burnley, I find the ideas unrealistic, impractical and unenforceable by law or the licensees themselves.

"In order to keep glass bottles off the streets, all licensed retailers would need to be either closed or policed to prevent them selling any glass containers, including milk bottles, on such occasions when there may be violence.

"And violent attacks are not restricted to the days of home football matches. There has been violence on weekends when no football has been played at home.

"To enforce the on-the-spot fines assumes individual youths carry or have access to funds to pay the fines.

"It assumes the police are able to treble their numbers to frogmarch offenders to cashpoints, or take them to cells for not paying."

He also said pubs were tied to breweries and could not introduce plastic glasses themselves.

They must rely on orders from the brewery, which would be reluctant to pay for changes.