A NEW police base has been set up in Burnley town centre for the Christmas period as part of a crackdown on festive crime.

The office, housed in the charity arch building near to Woolworths, aims to reduce crimes such as shoplifting and purse dipping, which increase in the run up to Christmas.

It will also provide a base for town centre community beat officers, a source of information and advice for visitors and a place for people to buy crime prevention devices such as UV marker pens, counterfeit note pens and personal attack alarms.

Officers are planning something different from the "cop shop" each week, starting this week with free mobile phone marking for shoppers and town centre staff.

There are also plans to hand out cat bells, which shoppers can attach to purses and bags to give them an early warning should a thief strike.

Town centre Sergeant Vikki Haworth said: "The run up to Christmas is a very busy time for retailers and shoppers and we're keen to ensure that there is a highly visible police presence around to reassure them.

"To that end, we are not only upping patrols in the town centre but also making sure that we have somewhere where people can go to for information and advice.

"The Christmas cop shop will not be open all the time because officers will be carrying out regular patrols of the town centre in a bid to prevent crime.

"But we intend to keep it open as often as we can so that people can come and visit us to discuss their concerns or take advantage of free crime prevention advice.