AN MP has resorted to padlocking her wheelie bin to the wall to prevent young yobs stealing it and setting it on fire.

And Darwen and Rossendale MP Janet Anderson hit out at the parents of the teenage arsonists who continue to target her and her neighbours.

Mrs Anderson, who lives in the Sunnyhurst area of Darwen, said the behaviour was "highly dangerous" as police pledged to do more to tackle the problem.

Mrs Anderson spoke out after youngsters stole and set fire to a number of wheelie bins in Sunnyhurst Wood.

She said: "The theft of bins in Sunnyhurst has been a problem for some time. I cannot for the life of me see the attraction of taking them into the woods and burning them, but that is what they do.

"It is highly dangerous and it is anti-social behaviour of the worst kind. The response from the police and the fire brigade is excellent, but they should not have to deal with problems like this.

"One can only speculate where the parents of these young people are and why on earth they do not teach their children to behave.

"We had this problem several months ago but it had died down. Clearly they are getting bored again. That is why my bin is now firmly padlocked to my back yard wall."

Each wheelie bin costs £52 to replace in addition to the extra cost of clearing away the debris and calling out the fire service.

Police sergeant Ian Hanson said: "We will take a very firm hand with any young people involved in what is a criminal damage offence. New legislation has come in allowing us to issue on-the-spot £80 fines to under 16s causing damage."

Darwen fire station commander Andy Taylor said: "The problem tends to be when people leave their bins out after they've been emptied. It puts the temptation there and when set on fire the wheelie bins burn quite quickly.

"Having to deal with this kind of incident is time consuming. Every time a fire engine goes out it means it is not available for something else and there's always the chance that we could have an accident.

"In the run up to Bonfire Night we would prefer people to take much more care with their bins."

Peter Hunt, director of direct services at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "As well as the monetary costs involved it is distressing when younger residents take part in this type of vandalism and expose themselves and the rest of the borough to potentially dangerous fumes."