POLICE have come up with a reel-y good way of stopping youths from committing anti-social behaviour.

Officers in the Bank Hall area of Burnley are organising fishing lessons for youngsters in a bid to get them off the streets.

The 'fishing' initiative was the brainchild of Police Community Support Officer Mick Fletcher and is being funded by RANK foundation.

Sessions will be taking place over the coming months as part of Operation Shepherd, an initiative that aims to tackle and prevent alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour across Lancashire.

PCSO Fletcher said: "Fishing may not be the obvious choice for boisterous youths, but I think it's an ideal sport.

"Fishing is one of the highest participation sports in the country. Furthermore, it gets the children outdoors, makes them more aware of their local environment and helps them to focus and concentrate.

"As part of the fishing project, we have secured funding from the RANK Foundation for seven sets of fishing equipment which can then be hired out to the youths."

He said that the project was just one of a range of initiatives designed to help address community concerns about anti-social behaviour.

And he added: "Enforcement work will still continue but hopefully by coming up with new ways in which to keep youths occupied we can prevent much of the boredom and some of the subsequent anti-social behaviour."

This is not the first scheme to be run by Burnley police in a bid to reduce anti-social behaviour.

Lessons teaching free running - a form of street acrobats - have been available at the St Peter's Health Centre in Burnley since September with a similar aim of getting children off the streets at night time.

The initial three sessions were so popular that permanent lessons have been set on a Friday night and police are hoping that the fishing lessons will follow in their success.

Anyone wanting to volunteer to help run the fishing sessions should contact PCSO Fletcher on 07944 501992.