THREE drunken men who caused a near eight-hour siege after climbing Colne Town Hall clock tower have been warned they might go to jail.

Burnley magistrates heard how the trio, Mark Chestney, 34, David Cook, 42, and Terry Saunders, 32, were said to have put lives at risk when they "played to the gallery".

They brought traffic to a standstill as the road had to be cordoned off, shook the flagpole, caused £2,000 worth of damage, and one threatened to jump off during the escapade on September 6.

Their early hours conduct, which they claimed was "high jinks", would have cost the public purse thousands of pounds, the court heard.

Magistrates were told how police tried to talk down the three, who joked they were from Fathers for Justice.

But they called in a negotiator after being met with laughter, taunts and jeers.

In the midst of the melee, the three climbed inside the belltower, before ringing the bell and moving the clock hands.

Two fire engines, two ambulances and almost every police officer on duty in the area, were called in, the court was told.

Chestney, of Green Road, and Cook and Saunders, both of Hawley Street, all Colne, admitted causing a public nuisance.

They were bailed until January 30 for an all options open pre-sentence report and the bench said they were not ruling out custody, or committal to the crown court for sentence.

Andrew Robinson, prosecuting, told the court at the time the town hall had scaffolding up and the defendants climbed onto it about 1am.

He said an officer arriving at the scene saw a piece of scaffolding in the road, and a roll of material then landed with a thud close by.

The prosecutor said the incident ended at 8.41am and had caused extensive traffic problems.

An inspector had spoken to and calmed down one of the men, who said he was going to jump and officers had been taunted with "get me some poppers".

Mr Robinson said because the defendants refused to "enter into any meaningful dialogue" with the negotiator, two officers went up the clock tower to try and get the men down.

As they tried to open the trapdoor leading to the belltower they came under attack from a barrage of debris and had to withdraw.

All three men have criminal records. John Rusius, defending, said the defendants had been out for a drink and Cook was suffering from depression.

He had just wanted to have some time on his own and went up the scaffolding.

His two friends wanted to make sure he did not do anything silly and the incident then became just a laugh and a joke, Mr Rusius said. "As the drink wore off it was a question of how do we get out of this?

"How silly have we been?"Mr Rusius said. The solicitor said the trio, who were very sorry, had since met with police and had been banned from licensed premises for 12 months.