HUNDREDS of parents have received letters from police warning them that their youngsters will be arrested if they are caught boozing on the streets this summer.

The move, in Accrington and Oswaldtwistle, comes just weeks after one of the borough's police chiefs rapped parents for turning a blind eye to under-aged drinking.

The letter, sent out to parents via pupils in year nine in Hyndburn's high schools, warns that the police intend to clamp down on teenaged drinkers over the summer.

The arrival of the summer holidays traditionally leads to a rise in so-called 'juvenile nuisance' offences, often fuelled by alcohol.

Police and trading standards officials have already carried out checks at local off licences to make sure youngsters aren't being sold alcohol.

Of eight stores checked -- using an under-aged test purchaser -- only one sold alcohol, police say.

Now they want to drum home the message to parents that under-aged drinking won't be tolerated, while at the same time making sure youngsters know that if they're drunk on the streets, their parents will find out.

Sgt Bob Eaton, of Accrington Police, said: "We have been running a number of operations, particularly Operation Extant over the last two to three weeks and are now beginning to make some inroads into the problem of groups of youngsters getting drunk and causing problems.

"Some of these have involved trying to find diversionary activities and trying to deal with those who are selling the alcohol to juveniles.

"With Extant, however we have taken a no nonsense approach to this problem out on the streets, particularly in Spring Hill and Oswaldtwistle.

"We cannot however be everywhere at once. I am keen to stress that parents have an enormous part to play in tackling this issue.

"They do not always know either the extent of the overall problem or the part that their child plays in it.

"We have received some excellent cooperation through our local Secondary Schools and I have taken the liberty of writing to the parents of year nine pupils and above to reinforce the message."

Youngsters in Oswaldtwistle got a taste of things to come last weekend when police patrolling the Rhyddings Park area targeted boozing youngsters.

They were taken home to their parents, several of them in a drunken state. Each was issued with a juvenile referral form, which means that youth services will now get involved to tackle the drinking.