A Section 35 dispersal notice has been put in place in Chorley after a police officer was assaulted.

The order, which began at 5.50pm on Friday provides the police with powers to dispense individuals in order to remove or reduce the likelihood of members of the public becoming harassed, alarmed or distressed.

It follows a number of incidents reported to the police in the last few weeks regarding juvenile nuisance on Chapel Street outside the bus station.

These incidents range from foul and abusive language and assault to criminal damage.

A spokesperson for the police said: "On Friday evening a group of juveniles have acted in a similar manner resulting in the arrest of four juveniles for public order offences and one for assaulting a constable.

"We would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff from Inspire Youth Zone in attempting to engage and mediate with this group in asking them to move away from the area.

"We can confirm that the group of juveniles involved have no affiliation whatsoever to Inspire Youth Zone.

"The actions of these individuals resulted in Inspire Youth Zone having to keep their law abiding youngsters inside the premises until the group had been moved on.

"As a result at 17:50 hours a Section 35 Dispersal Notice has been put in place for the period of 48 hours to allow members of the public go about their normal business without having to hear and see some of the disrespectful behaviour of some of these juveniles."

The notice covers Chapel Street and the surrounding areas of Chorley town centre and will last until 5.50pm on Sunday.

A section 35 notice has already been issued to one individual and officers say they will be taking action on anyone who breaches the Section 35 Dispersal Notice.