POLICE will soon have the power to block people with criminal convictions from becoming doormen in Blackburn and Darwen.

Licensing officers at Blackburn police station will vet all doormen and women in the borough when a new registration scheme is launched this autumn.

But police are quick to point out that people with a criminal conviction will not automatically be shown the door.

The aim is to cut down on violence at Blackburn and Darwen nightspots and improve public safety in the two town centres.

Blackburn town centre accounts for 20 per cent of all crime in the borough and there is mounting concern over recent increases in violent incidents.

A group including club owners, the police and council officials have been working on the scheme for more than six months, and it was launched at a conference at King George's Hall.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has agreed to the project in principle. Club and pub owners using door staff will have to take part in the scheme, which is similar to others already in operation in Blackpool, Preston and Burnley.

Paul Isherwood, Blackburn town centre manager, said: "The aim is to attract more of the right sort of people to the town centre in the evening to make it an attractive and comfortable place to be.

"This is about bringing more people to the borough. This in turn will create more jobs and that is what this scheme is all about."

All doormen will have to register with the council and the applications will then be vetted by the police.

Applicants will also have to complete training courses in safety, first aid and licensing law before they become registered.

Around 70 doormen and women work in Blackburn and Darwen, many of them working freelance.

Once the scheme is up and running, door staff will wear identification badges and club owners will also have to keep complete employment records, making it easy to trace anyone involved in violent incidents.

A report put together by the working group says: "The problems associated with door supervisors are well known and have been highlighted.

"Research has established that an ignition point for some of the violence often occurred at the entrance and exits of licensed premises and that door supervisors have often been identified as the source of this violence."

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