Sisters are given lifetime pub ban in Darwen

Two sisters have been given lifetime bans from all of their local pubs and bars after carrying out a vicious attack on a teenage girl in Lancashire.

Zoe Livesey, 30, and Zara Livesey, 24, from Darwen, punched and kicked the 19-year-old in the head outside Roxy nightclub in their home town.

The pair were given suspended prison terms by Blackburn magistrates in May.

Now landlords have banned them from all of the town's premises - the first time a lifetime order has been issued.

The ban means they cannot drink in, or buy alcohol from, any of the 25 pubs and clubs involved in the town's Bar U scheme.

Lancashire Police said the sisters launched a "vicious attack" on the girl outside the nightclub at about 0400 BST on 13 March.

Both pleaded guilty to section 47 assault and were sentenced to 16 weeks in jail, suspended for two years, on 24 May.

Chair of Bar U and manager of the Bridgewater pub Adam Hulme said: "This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated in the town and by imposing life -long bans we are sending a message out that we mean business.

"We want everyone using our pubs and clubs to be safe and the scheme is proving a massive deterrent in helping us to achieve this."

Forty-six people are currently banned from Darwen's pubs and clubs under the scheme, which has been running for 11 years.

But it is the first time anyone has been ordered to stay away for the rest of their lives.

Community Beat Manager Pc Simon Harwood said the scheme gave power to licensees to decide who they wanted drinking in their premises.

"I am striving to make Darwen a safer place and by working closely with local licensees we are starting to make a real difference," said Pc Harwood.

"I am completely supportive of the action they have taken against the sisters and I am pleased they can no longer prey on innocent young girls in the town."