A LOUD call went out to police today to end the ugly nuisance of Blackburn's Boulevard drinkers.

The move came after mayhem broke out yesterday afternoon, prompting one pub landlord to claim the culprits saw local police as a soft touch.

Motorists were forced to swerve to avoid the drinkers as they staggered across the road and at one point, one of the drinkers was seen beating up a girl.

The disgraceful scenes lasted for more than five hours and came just three months after police promised to tackle the problem of town centre drinking with a new scheme giving them increased powers.

And it is just two weeks since officers pledged a crackdown after clergy warned boozers were flouting the street drinking ban and desecrating cathedral grounds.

Today police said two people had been arrested after the incidents and that they were committed to taking positive action.

A group of eight or nine drinkers, some obviously drunk, began fighting among themselves, arguing with police officers, creating havoc with traffic, and even sleeping on the pavements.

The disruption began in the early afternoon and continued until 6pm, when the Lancashire Evening Telegraph alerted police after a man was seen beating up a woman.

Earlier two women were seen fighting with each other, and a bystander reported seeing two women fighting in a third incident.

Ronnie O'Keeffe, president of the Blackburn Chamber of Trade, said: "It puts people off coming into the town, getting off buses and trains.

"We welcomed and praised the council for this initiative, but if the drinkers are coming back it's up to the police to shift them because they have the powers now.

"In the next few months this shouldn't happen on the Boulevard because the new police station is going there."

Trevor Hannan, landlord of the Adelphi pub, said: "I rang the police at 9am to say I had been broken into and that all the winos were at the back of my pub, and nobody came.

"It's got a lot worse. There are more and more people coming to town because they know the police are a soft touch.

"I have seen police walk by without saying anything. The police are not doing what they promised."

Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council Bill Taylor said: "That area is the gateway to the town in many ways with people arriving by public transport.

"My wife walked through there a few weeks ago and didn't enjoy the experience very much. I don't think it's reasonable in a civilised society for one group of people to harass or annoy other folk.

"I will take it up once again with the chief executive of the council and invite him to talk to the chief of police about it."

Two weeks ago, cathedral bosses said drinkers were openly ignoring Blackburn's new drinking ban and said police were not doing enough.

Andrew Hindley, canon sacrist in charge of the sacred objects at Blackburn Cathedral, said: "It's getting worse. Something's got to be done."

Inspector Andrea Barrow said: "Officers were called to reports of people drinking near Morrisons as early as 1pm yesterday but said there was no trace of anyone when they arrived.

"Officers arrested a woman for breach of the peace in the cathedral grounds when they were called at 4pm. She was still being questioned by police today.

"A call, made by the Lancashire Evening Telegraph at 6pm, resulted in another woman being arrested on suspicion of assault but she was released without charge. A woman was treated at Blackburn Royal Infirmary but was not detained.

"There is an action plan which involves visible patrols in the town centre first of all as a deterrent but also responding to calls.

"In addition to that the CCTV monitoring staff are aware as well and we work very closely together.

"As far as I know there were two incidents yesterday, officers attended properly to both incidents and on both occasions arrests were made.

"As far as I'm concerned that's positive action. It's what members of the public want to see."