A MOTHER today banned her children from playing in their local park, claiming drunken teenagers were making their lives hell.

Sue Peake, of Malvern Avenue, Oswaldtwistle, claimed police attempts to crackdown on troublesome teenagers have turned Rhyddings Park into a no-go area for her six children.

Residents have complained of problems, including youngsters drinking and leaving rubbish lying around near the bowling green and monument and being abusive to residents and people using the park. Mrs Peake said the problem was so bad in the evenings, particularly at weekends, that she no longer allowed her six children to play in the park.

She added: "People are fed up with this, it's absolutely horrendous. These kids are drinking and making a din at all hours and nobody seems to be supervising them. The police seem to be rounding them up and dumping them in the park, where they are just left to cause mayhem. We don't want all these children left together like this in a big group because it just makes the problems worse."

The residents' worries came after the launch of a police initiative to clear the streets of Oswaldtwistle of problem youngsters.

Police have hailed the operation as a success in the few weeks it has been running, with more than 20 youngsters arrested for public order offences.

The scheme is set to run until after the summer months, when the problems of youngsters being outside and unsupervised is likely to be at its worst.

A police spokesman said they were doing their best to deal with the problems of juvenile nuisance and that they had had a positive response to the clampdown from the majority of residents they had spoken to.

They promised to look into disorder in the park.