COUNCILLORS joined police on the beat on Friday night to witness first-hand the growing problem of teenage drunks who cause a nuisance for residents.

Members of Westhoughton Town Council will go out with patrolling officers to trouble hot-spots across the town.

Councillors asked police to take them to areas which louts have turned into late-night drinking havens, where groups of up to 30 teenagers often gather.

Cllr David Chadwick said: "We want an insight into how police are tackling the issue.

"The public are concerned at how this culture seems to have taken hold and hopefully through co-operating with the police we can help them to come up with a solution.

"We hear from residents daily about how bad the problem is but we feel we will benefit from seeing it first- hand."

An on-street drinking ban was introduced in Westhoughton town centre last year. And in the last two months alone, police have confiscated hundreds of bottles and cans of alcohol from teenagers.

Councillors say similar bans could follow in Daisy Hill and Wingates, where youths have begun gathering as an alternative.

Insp Simon Miskell said: "What they will see is a lot of young people who are out to socialise and arent actually doing anything wrong.

"We are trying to find alternatives to them hanging around the streets in such large numbers and I hope this will help us to find a solution.

"The idea behind tonight is to highlight the work that is taking place in the area and show the councillors how anti-social behaviour is being tackled effectively."

Two councillors joined police on Friday night and other councillors could follow in coming weeks.