PLEAS have been made to keep Longbarn Park locked at night after a man was attacked by a gang of teenagers.

Following incident, on February 8, residents of Meadow Lane attended a meeting of Fearnhead with Poulton parish council to ask for the park gates to be locked to prevent the lane from being used as a cut through.

Clr Colin Oliver (LD - Poulton North) said it had been done in the past but it stopped people being using the park as a cut through to get to work in the mornings.

He explained all the areas that attracted anti-social behaviour were being looked at and the parish council were considering how to minimise it.

Derek Lockie, police inspector for Warrington East, was at the meeting.

"I can assure you that anti-social behaviour is at the top of my agenda," he said.

"We are aware of who the troublemakers are and we are targetting them," said Insp Lockie."In the past few weeks we have taken offensive weapons, drugs and alcohol off them.

"The Meadow Lane incident saddened me," he added.

"We need to try to prevent these before they occur."

He urged people to contact him or his team with any incidents and promised to respond.