Hyndburn's top cop has said that her officers are well equipped to deal with any booze-fuelled trouble over the festive period - despite a cut in funding.

Thousands of people are expected to flock to the borough’s town centres before the New Year starting on ‘Mad Friday’ on Friday, December 21.

Police last year doubled officers on street patrols and boosted safety by employing private security staff to ensure Christmas party-goers got home safely in cabs.

The initiative was rolled out after £5,000 of funding was made available.

But police say this is not an option following cuts this year.

Inspector Catherine Platt said there are enough staff in place to deal with  any potential violence.

She said: “We are happy that we have got sufficient resources in place on critical days such as Friday, December 21 and Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve which are both on Monday nights.

“There was funding available through the Community Safety Partnership last year but we haven’t got any additional funding this time.

“We are still doing the taxi marshalling and we will have more staff on the streets on the relevant nights and dedicated foot patrols in Accrington and Great Harwood.

“We don’t know how many officers will be on the streets at any one time.

“But there will be an enhanced amount and we will be able to respond accordingly across the police division.”

She added: “We want people to enjoy themselves. We appreciate it is the festive season.

A lot of incidents are alcohol-related at this time of year, whether that is domestic violence or other incidents.

“We will be adopting a firm, fair and friendly approach.

“I would also urge people to watch how much alcohol they drink the night before when they are going to be driving the following day.”

Measures used to clamp down on thugs include banning any violent offenders from all town centre pubs until the New Year.

Police also focused their resources on ‘red route’ patrols on the main routes out of town used by revellers to get home and had a special ambulance on stand-by near Accrington Town Hall.