LARGE groups of teenage "Emos and Goths" are scaring away shoppers in Blackburn, traders have claimed.

Three years ago similar groups were moved on by police after regularly gathering in Church Street on Saturday afternoons.

Now the Blackburn Chamber of Trade and a Church Street businessman said the problem had returned at weekends.

Blackburn Police said it would send officers to talk to the teenagers to find a solution.

Goths' style is well known, but Emo refers to fans of modern rock music which has emotional lyrics and followers typically wear tight-fitting jeans and have long fringes covering part of their face.

John Wilman recently opened Pavilion Interiors in the final pavilion in Church Street, Blackburn, completing a multi-million restoration of the three buildings.

But he said the large groups of up to 30 youths had made him regret opening the shop.

He said: "Every Saturday the yobs congregate outside my shop dressed in black with skateboards and bikes.

"We don't get any customers coming while they are there.

"They are taking over the town and no-one seems to be able to do anything about it.

"There are usually between 20 and 30 yobs all gathered together.

"The girl who works for me rings the police every week. There must be a way to stop these teenagers.

"I want to highlight this as an issue and maybe the parents could take responsibility."

President of Blackburn with Darwen Chamber of Trade David Cottam said that even though the teenagers "probably" did not mean to upset shoppers, they were "intimidating" because of the large numbers.

He said: "They are using skateboards in the town centre when they are not supposed to and are jumping all over the place.

"We can't just move them on because that just moves the problem to another area, these kids need something to do.

"We need to come up with some sort of solution and find them something to do and need feedback from them to find out what they want.

"It's easy just to blame and shout at people but that's not going to help anyone."

Sergeant Rachel Baines said she was working towards a solution which she hopes would see the teenagers meeting in another part of the town centre.

She said: "Police will be speaking to both shopkeepers and the youngsters in order to find a solution to the issue.

"In the last month, police have received two reports concerning youth nuisance in the area and are working to improve the situation for both shoppers and local shop keepers including the presence of a highly visible police officers at peak times.

"While no criminal offences have been committed, youngsters congregating in a particular area can cause intimidation to local shoppers and I urge the youngsters to be considerate and respectful when gathering in the town centre."