FOR... “It was the first time Punk Rock had visited West Craven ...95 per cent of the audience seemed to enjoy what went on”.

AND

AGAINST... “Filthy language, heavy drinking, vomiting, breaking glass and bottles everywhere . . . a waste of money”.

PUNK Rock came out into the open in West Craven on Sunday - but it struck a sour note with local residents.

In a letter to this newspaper one of them said: “Crowds of morons decended upon Letcliffe Park in Barnoldswick using filthy language, drinking heavily, vomiting, breaking glass and bottles everywhere and even climbing in a resident's car to sleep it off”.

And Mr Trevor Pickles called the scenes at the concert “disgusting”.

Around 250 people, many from out of the area, visited the park for the first open air punk rock concert in this area.
The event was organised by Pendle Leisure Services and featured three groups, all from the Burnley area.
It led Mr Pickles to ask: “Is this an example of how this department wastes money?”
The letter continued: “Inevitably fights developed, the police had to be called out and the so-called bands continued with their shocking songs at deafening levels which could be heard for miles around, while the well-cared-for surroundings of Letcliffe Park were wreaked havoc upon”.
“This event, believe it or not, was paid for by Mr Fenton and his Pendle Leisure Services department. If this is a sample of how that department wastes money, then I would suggest that a very close look is given to the activities and financial standing of Pendle Leisure Services and whether, in these days of supposedly tight council budgets, this department would be better discontinued and the money better spent elsewhere”.
“After all, worthwhile events could be staged by any outside theatrical, charity or any other type of organisation without using council money and have more idea of who and what the local population want to see and will support”.
Other residents of Manchester Road, which is near to Letcliffe Park, joined with Mr Pickles to support his complaints.
Mr John Verney told us: “It was a noisy concert which attracted a large crowd of kids and personally I was a bit depressed. But at least these concerts are not held very frequently”.
And Mrs Hudson said: “I could hear the concert from inside the house. It was fairly loud and I expect a number of people would have been disturbed by it”.
A spokesman for one of the bands said: “Admittedly the noise level was high and a number of people did turn up with the intention of making a fool of themselves”.
“It was the first time punk rock had visited West Craven and those who attended must have caused quite a stir in the town but 95 per cent of the audience seemed to enjoy what went on”.
Barnoldswick police reported that they had received a number of complaints from residents living close to the park.

MORE TO COME