A NEW weekend taxi rank has been created in the Clitheroe to combat late night rowdies in the town centre.

Lancashire County Council has created the rank in Market Place after pressure from Ribble Valley Council and town centre residents.

The new rank, outside Cowgill's Toy Shop and Stationers, will operate between 8pm and 6am from Fridays to Sunday.

Residents in nearby King Lane, the site of the town's main taxi rank, have complained that hordes of young people gather outside their homes, leaving a trail of broken glass and bottles behind them.

Ninety residents signed a petition expressing concern about noise, vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

They said the drunken youths were urinating through letterboxes and climbing on balconies. The new rank, situated away from residential properties, is one of several measures thrashed out at a public meeting called by the residents and attended by police chiefs, publicans and councillors.

Other measures have included closed circuit television on the taxi rank and more beat bobbies.

A spokesman for Ribble Valley Council said the new rank was now fully operational and people were being asked to cooperate by not parking at the spot at weekends.

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