THREE troublemakers are the first to be banned from pubs in Rossendale as part of a scheme to reduce violence in licensed premises.

The trio have been outlawed under the area's Pubwatch scheme, which involves landlords taking a tough stance against violence, drug use and anti-social behaviour.

Two men aged 24 and 30 and a woman aged 35 have now been excluded from pubs across Rossendale after causing trouble in Bacup and Waterfoot.

The initiative, which was announced some months ago, is now preparing for its official launch after securing £1,500 from the Government's Community Safety Initiative fund.

Set up by publicans and the police, Pubwatch is backed by 50 per cent of the licensed premises who are promising tough action against anyone caught misbehaving.

Sgt Colin Hudson said: "The aim of the new initiative is to reduce the number of violent incidents and the amount of anti-social behaviour in and around the area.

"Anyone involved in acts of serious assault, violence, drug supply or use inside or outside of licensed premises, will face a ban from all pubs taking part.

"We are still trying to get more licensees involved because it will benefit their establishment as well as everyone else.

"All the publicans involved are very enthusiastic about the scheme and we hope to have it fully established in the coming month."

The police are currently working with designers to get a poster campaign up and running and hope to have beer mats printed with the pub watch logo. Pictures of all people banned from the nightspots will be distributed to participating licensees.

Sgt Hudson added: "If the offender tries to go inside the pub, the licensees will have the power to ask them to leave. If they do not, then they can call the police.

"The message is clear -- if people want to behave in a disorderly fashion, they will be excluded from all pubs.

"We have to now establish a timescale for which people are to be banned. Some areas ban troublemakers for life, others for 12 months, so we will be working with licensees to come up with suitable timescales."

The police have been involved in establishing pub watches in Rawtenstall, Bacup and Haslingden. These are in addition to one covering Waterfoot and district, established by the publicans.

Similar schemes run in other parts of East Lancashire, including Burnley, Pendle, Blackburn with Darwen, Accrington and Clitheroe.