A MAN wrongly labelled a paedophile by a group of Accrington vigilantes has told the Observer he fears the claims will put him in an early grave.

Bryan Davies, 63, of Emma Street, Accrington, was maliciously accused of being a paedophile after two young girls made false allegations against him.

Now the police have stepped in to ease Mr Davies’s ordeal – issuing a letter proclaiming his innocence.

The police action comes after Mr Davies and his wife, Debbie, were verbally abused and their property vandalised.

It follows a full investigation by officers when the young girls admitted they had been lying.

Despite the girls’ admission, members of the community continued their hate campaign.

Mr Davies, who has had a stroke because of the stress of the allegations, now fears his health is in jeopardy, and said: "We took the police’s advice when they began handing out the letters about getting away from the area for a while to allow things to calm down. But, the moment I stepped back into the street I was met with a load of abuse.

"We have only lived in the street for six months but all of that time has been horrendous.

"Being labelled a paedophile is the worst thing in the world. The thought makes me feel sick. The police told the people making these malicious allegations if they continued they would face a charge – but they haven’t.

"I feel totally let down, the police have suggested we move but why should we? I haven’t done anything wrong. I won’t move because the police are not willing to prosecute these girls, or tackle the people intimidating us."

However, Mr Davies said he will not be intimidated and said: "I won’t give in. It’ll probably kill me, but I won’t run away with my tail between my legs."

Accrington Sergeant Simon Lynch said: "If we get reports of anti-social behaviour then we’ll investigate.

"If there is any evidence of anti social behaviour we’ll not hesitate to run it through the criminal justice system.

"Members of the community need to bring this evidence to our attention so we can act upon it.

"The neighbourhood team can be contacted on 353103."