PRESTON'S historic cemetery is to be fenced off outside working hours, to stop vandals getting in.

The graveyard, pictured, which is Europe's largest, has become a haunt of drug users and dealers, while local crooks are using the site to stash stolen goods.

Vandalism is also a major problem, with headstones being damaged and flowers and other items being stolen from graves.

Now council chiefs are preparing to invest large sums of money in putting up fencing along Occupation Way, a footpath which runs alongside the cemetery from Miller Road to New Hall Lane.

Their action follows a 300-signature petition from residents on the adjacent Ribble Valley estate, calling for better fencing surrounding the cemetery - to prevent burglars using it as somewhere to hide stolen goods.

Residents also claim there is a problem with fly-tipping.

A council spokesman said: "The issue of motorcyclists gaining access from Occupation Way and riding through the cemetery also needs looking at. If the place is to be secure out of hours then we need to prevent easy access here.

"Several options are on the table, varying in cost between £136,000 and £251,000, including putting up ornate railings along the boundary similar to those erected elsewhere around the cemetery."

The issue was due for discussion by Preston's environment committee today (Thursday).

Just two months ago, the committee voted to close the cemetery's public toilets after they were found to be a drug den.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.