BUSINESSES and pubs in Haslingden are sharing information about troublemakers and crooks through a community radio system, linked to police.

Traders use the radio system to inform other shops about issues such as fake bank notes, and pubs are using it to inform other licensed premises about drink-ers they have thrown out of their premises for bad behaviour.

The system is linked to police radios so officers can be conta-cted quickly to give assistance when needed.

PC Luke Mulla, a community beat manager for Haslingden, told the Haslingden, Helmshore and Edenfield Neighbourhood Forum about the system when it met at Edenfield Primary School this week.

He said it could also be used to ensure that CCTV camera operato-rs pointed cameras in the right direction should an incident occur.

He said: "There was an incident recently where someone came into a shop with a fake £50 note and the radio was used to tell all the other shops."

Pc Mulla also said that the pub watch scheme was up and running and anyone who caused trouble in one pub, risked being banned from every pub in Rossendale.