WARNING letters were hand delivered by police to 15 known shoplifters in Burnley and Padiham today.

The crooks have been warned they will be specifically targeted if they visit either town centre in order to steal from shops.

Inspector Steve Hartley said: "This is a drive to deter shoplifters from entering the town centres.

"We have identified 15 offenders from the Burnley and Padiham areas and have hand delivered confidential letters to them."

He said search warrants would also be executed at the home addresses of selected people in an attempt to recover stolen property.

CCTV cameras will be used to monitor the movements of known offenders if they ignore the warning and travel into the town centres in order to steal.

Sergeant John Bullas, who is leading the initiative, said: "Shoplifting might not seem like the most serious crime in the world but because so many people involve themselves in this type of activity or officers are constantly dealing with them instead of targeting burglars and car thieves.

Photographs of the 15 constant offenders have been distributed to town centre stores who that store detectives and staff can help police pick them out if they ignore the warning they received today.