A FESTIVE force to be reckoned with is now helping to ensure that Blackburn town centre is free of crime during the Christmas shopping season.

Extra uniformed and plain-clothes officers will monitor the town backed by mounted police and motorcycle outriders who will keep an eye on car parks as part of Operation Christmas Cracker.

The operation will be backed by Blackburn's Storelink radio and closed circuit television system.

It was launched by Blackburn Police Crime Prevention Office on Friday morning and will run until January 3.

The scheme has been set up to combat theft, fraud and town centre car crime, which traditionally rises in the run up to Christmas. Superintendent Wendy Walker, head of operations for the Eastern division of the Lancashire force, said: "It is intended that Blackburn town centre will be a safe, involved and reassuring place to be in line with the Chief Constable's vision on the approach to the festive season,"

Operation Christmas Cracker has been planned and co-ordinated by Blackburn Crime Prevention Office.

It is being run jointly by town centre management, the Blackburn Chamber of Trade and the Association For the Prevention of Theft in Shops.

The object of the exercise is to reassure people that a shopping expedition to Blackburn will be safe, pleasant and successful

This year's operation follows the success of last year's Operation Mistletoe which led to the recovery of stolen property worth £6,897.

During Christmas, 1996, police arrested 116 people in the town centre, 79 of them for stealing from shops, and solved 76 shoplifting related crimes.

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