POLICE today revealed that a petrol bomb thrown through the window of a house was the latest in a string of incidents in the neighbourhood.

Now local councillors have pledged to work with police to try to increase patrols in the area after learning of the incident from the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. Officers said there had been several incidents in the area over the last year which they were investigating.

The bottle, containing petrol with a lighted rag soaked in petrol, was put through the window of a house in Norfolk Grove, Church, in the early hours of Monday.

A woman and two children were in the property at the time of the incident at 2.15am.

Hours earlier a fire had been started in the doorstep of the house next door. Police said the incident would have been much worse, but the bottle had failed to smash when it landed. The woman in the house heard the window smash and came downstairs to find the missile, officers said.

Fire crews and police were called, but the fire was contained to a small area in the kitchen. Det Sgt Paul Murphy, of Accrington CID, said: "We are investigating both the incidents and other incidents that have occurred involving residents in that area over the last 12 months."

Ward councillor Jean Battle said: "There have been problems in Norfolk Grove for many years, but whether these are new problems I don't know. We need to liaise with the police, the housing department if tenants are involved, and the anti-social behaviour officer.

"We need to find out what the problem is."

Coun John Broadley, also a member for Church, agreed.

"We can't have this kind of thing happening. We have got to be aware of things like this. We will try to get more police presence on the ground, or more wardens on the ground."