Members of the public will patrol the streets at night after a rise in crime and anti-social behaviour and a lack of police presence.

Residents have formed a Huncoat Neighbourhood Watch group with the support of local councillors which will see 24/7 patrols carried out around the village.

A sophisticated and wide-ranging CCTV system is also being set up to identify and deter would-be offenders.

Roma Hodkinson said they will not be ‘vigilantes’ but instead monitor Huncoat for incidents and suspicious behaviour and pass on all information to local police.

A public meeting was held at The Railway pub in Huncoat earlier this week to launch the Neighbourhood Watch and attended by councillors Dave Parkins, Eamonn Higgins, Councillor Loraine Cox and a PCSO from the Hyndburn Neighbourhood Policing Team.

Roma, who lives in Huncoat, told the Observer: “Huncoat is not going to stand for crime in the area any more.

“People are furious with all the robberies, speeding and dog fouling and we came up with plans to start doing community walks and keeping an eye on things.

“The police [at the meeting] were more than understanding about the way people were feeling and clarified a few points as to what we could do as a community.

“We don’t want to be doing citizens arrests and doing vigilante behaviour. That’s not what we are about. The police agreed that their support in the area is few and far between because of the cutbacks to the public sector across the borough.

“We have got a CCTV system in place now to provide a net across the entirety of the village so even if we are not out walking and somebody does something then they will get caught.

“We want it to be a beautiful area and a desirable place to live in and not an easy place to pop in and out of and cause havoc in people’s daily lives.”

Coun Parkins said it was a ‘very positive meeting’ and they will also look to lobby MP Graham Jones to get extra police resources for the area.

He said: “We had a two hour talk and ideas were put forward. It’s nice to see people are interested in helping. There were residents from all parts of the village there which is good to see.”

Hyndburn Police have been contacted for comment.