A SHOPKEEPER has been cleared of assaulting two 11-year-old girls after a court heard how tearaways had made his life a misery.

And today, 68-year-old Daljit Sharma hit out at police for failing to protect his family and his business in the run up to the incident, which ended with his arrest, last June.

MP Janet Anderson said the Darwen off-licence owner had suffered "appalling harassment" and demanded a police cracked down on juvenile nuisance.

Police said they were supporting Mr Sharma and had already taken steps to protect him. But his wife Santosh Sharma, 63, said their problems were far from over -- with youths throwing eggs into the shop hours after the court hearing which cleared him.

Two charges of assault, which Mr Sharma had denied, were withdrawn by Blackburn magistrates.

Binding him over in the sum of £50 to keep the peace for two months, the chairman of the bench said Mr Sharma was a man of impeccable character and said: "We appreciate the great stress you must have been under and we understand how these youths can cause mayhem."

Magistrates were told that Mr Sharma's Sanjit off-licence, in Lynwood Avenue, Darwen, had been repeatedly targeted by yobs over three years and he had suffered health problems as a result.

Basharat Ditta, defending, said youths had stolen from the shop, daubed it with racist graffiti and shouted racist abuse at him.

He said: "All my client wants is to be left in peace to get on with his life and run his business. His health has suffered as a result of the problems he has endured over the last three years."

Claire Fanning, prosecuting, said the incident went back to June 2003 when an 11-year-old girl had bought some sweets from the shop. She said there was an altercation and the girl was grabbed round the neck and another girl claimed she received a slap across the face.

Mr Ditta said: "As soon as my client and his son paint over the graffiti it reappears within weeks or even days.

"All these matters have been reported to the police and only yesterday he reported an incident of shoplifting. It seems to my client that the police are doing very little to help him and he is very frustrated with the system."

Speaking after the hearing Mr Sharma said: "It should be someone else appearing in court and not me. It doesn't seem right that I am given all this trouble but I am blamed and have to come to court."

Darwen MP Janet Anderson said: "Mr and Mrs Sharma have obviously been subjected to the most appalling harassment and it's high time the police dealt with these young people and if necessary made their parents take responsibility for their actions. There are juvenile nuisance problems right across Darwen and the police need to crack down hard on it."

Sergeant Anne Scott said the police had been working with Mr Sharma and had arranged for graffiti to be removed from his side wall.

She said: "The police are in support of Mr Sharma who is trying to run his business in this community and the community beat officer, PC John Sergeant, has been in contact with him to look at the issues surrounding the young people. If these kids display anti-social behaviour we will challenge that behaviour."