BOSSES at one of the area's major tourist attractions have signed up to a pioneering crackdown on the growing crime of stone theft.

Gawthorpe Hall has joined forces with Lancashire Police in a bid to foil the stone thieves who are stripping the East Lancashire countryside of thousands of pounds worth of valuable stonework each year.

Bosses at Gawthorpe estimate thefts of stone flags and dry stone walling have cost amounted to several thousand pounds in the last six months alone. And the estate is not the only victim of the fast-growing crime. In April, flagstones worth £1,500 were stolen from the war memorial at Towneley Hall.

Police say there have been 362 reported stone thefts in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale this year, with many more in the Ribble Valley.

The clampdown involves spraying stones with a unique liquid called Smartwater which contains forensic codes which glow under ultraviolet light.

The National Trust, which owns Gawthorpe Hall, has now bought liquid to mark all the stones on the estate. Property manager Carol Murrin said: "We have had problems with stone thefts over the last few months which have not only cost us thousands of pounds but have caused a lot of distress as well.

"People come to visit the hall and having various stones missing from paths or walls is very unsightly.

"Hopefully this new and exciting technology will help us protect our stones and, if they are stolen, will mean the police are able to trace them and get them back for us.

"The new technology has cost several hundred pounds it is much cheaper than paying out thousands of pounds to buy replacement stones and should be well worth the investment."

Meanwhile other measures are also being taken to improve the state of the grounds following a visit by the area's County Councillor Marcus Johnstone.

Proper weeding and edging of lawns as well as new flower beds will carried out in a bid to improve the appearance of the grounds.