YOBS have returned to Farnworth cemetery and are turning the area into a crime hotspot, it has been claimed.

Council bosses have promised to meet neighbours from nearby Rawson Street following a spate of incidents that residents say are making their lives a misery.

Stolen cars have been abandoned outside the cemetery gates, off Cemetery Road, and set alight, and the area is a magnet for gangs to congregate for underage drinking, drug taking and dealing.

Urgent talks will take place next week at Farnworth Town Hall to try and resolve the problem and drive out the yobs.

Cllr Noel Spencer is calling for improved security measures to combat the problem around the cemetery. He said: "We need the gates to be relocated and some sort of fencing to cordon off where these people gather. "They just think they can do what they want and act with total impunity."

Some gravestones inside the cemetery have been damaged and neighbours have been subjected to verbal abuse.

Three years ago, residents called on the council to step up street cleansing after piles of rubbish and burnt out tyres began mounting at the cemetery entrance.

A spokesman for Bolton Council said: "We are aware of the problems of anti-social behaviour that have now arisen and we are keen to work with residents in the area to find a reasonable solution."

And in 1999, thieves attacked 14 graves, stealing stone kerbing sets in a night time raid.

The cemetery is a popular spot for residents to walk and exercise their dogs.

The reports of anti-social behaviour have been passed on to the police who will be invited to attend the meeting.

Residents living in Hall Street have been compiling a list of incidents as evidence.

A spokesman for Bolton Council said: "The gates to the cemetery were moved backed some years ago to allow for public access to Darley Park at times when the cemetery was closed. However, we are aware of the problems of anti-social behaviour that have now arisen and we are keen to work with residents in the area to find a reasonable solution.

Council staff will be meeting residents to discuss the way forward."

Inspector Chris Makin, for Bolton South, said: "If the community are concerned, we are more than happy to come along to the meeting.

"But we have had major successes in reducing vehicle crime in the south of Bolton."