A POLICE chief today said "a cancer" had been removed from society after four members of a notorious gang were ordered to behave or face prison.

The four youngsters, all part of a gang calling themselves the Bengali Boys, have been served with interim Anti Social Behaviour Orders by magistrates in a bid to protect the community in the Stoneyholme and Daneshouse areas of Burnley.

Police said Alhaj Mahmud, Masum Tahir, Salim Baksh and Tarzn Uddin were making people's lives a misery with behaviour which included attacking cars, fighting in the street, shouting abuse and trespassing in schools and community centres.

Police said some of the crimes were racially motivated while others were carried out on other members of the Asian community.

Ten other members of the gang, all aged 17-25, are also facing similar action. Police believe it is the largest use of ASBOs against a single group in Lancashire if not the country.

The orders, imposed yesterday by Burnley magistrates have been welcomed by community leaders.

Ward Councillor for Daneshouse and Stoneyholme Rafique Malik said: "This should send a message to members of the community that the authorities will take action and not sweep these things under the carpet.

"I am aware of many complaints about this gang, some very serious, and it's bringing a bad name to this part of town.

"I do not believe anti-social behaviour is something we should be afraid of tackling.

"Community representatives and the youth services need to work to tackle the social problems which cause some young people to behave like this. The biggest problems are overcrowding and a lack of facilities."

The interim ASBOs will last three months and have been designed to take quick and effective action against the troublemakers while a full order can be applied for. If the order is breached in any way police have powers of arrest and a five-year prison sentence can result.

Under the interim orders the group are not allowed to:

Enter Stoneyholme, except to go to their home, work or to visit family

Be in a group of more than three people, except family members

Contact certain other people named in the order

Go within 200 metres of Daneshouse Community Centre

Cause criminal damage or assault

Carry anything made, constructed or intended for use as a weapon

Interfere with road signs

The measures were taken after a joint meeting of police top brass and community leaders in the mainly Asian areas of Daneshouse and Stoneyholme last week which followed months of problems. Lancashire Police solicitor Niamh Noone, prosecuting at Burnley magistrates, said the orders were necessary to protect the community from any further activity by the gang.

Police had already launched Operation Freelander, a series of high profile patrols, in response to calls from the community to tackle problems in the area, which included a recent attack on a teenage car driver.

Chief Inspector Richard Morgan, of Burnley Police, said: "The orders should have an immediate impact in taking out what is a cancer within that society. These people have been making the lives of local residents intolerable."

Baksh, 19, of Colne Road; Mahmud, 20, of Throstle Close; Tahir, 19, of Cromwell Road and Uddin, 23, of Brougham Street will appear in court within three months when police will apply for full ASBOs.