A FURNITURE factory has been told to clean up its act or get an ASBO.

The warning follows complaints of noise, fumes and sawdust - and is one of the first times a firm has been threatened an ASBO.

Residents told councillors on Pendle Council's Nelson Committee that Ideal Upholstery, Railway Street, was making their lives a misery.

But the environmental services department has not found noise or pollution levels to cause a statutory nuisance, sparking calls for 24-hour surveillance of the factory and council boss Brian Cookson to admit the authority was looking at serving the factory and its owner, Mr Mohammad Aslam, with an anti-social behaviour order.

The company have said they are doing their best to keep nuisance to a min- imum.

The ASBO would allow the council to make a list of restrictions that the company would have to adhere to, whether or not the orders were in line with the normal law, and would mean criminal charges if the rules were broken.

Mr Cookson, the executive director (regeneration), said: "We need to get something done about this firm, but we have to ensure that the council acts within the law.

"It's very unusual for an ASBO to be served on a company rather than an individual, but it's something that has been mentioned."

Maureen Roberts, of the Cloverhill Residents' Action Group, said noise, sawdust and fumes from the wood-burning system meant people had to keep their windows closed all day, fearing health implications from the fumes, with work continuing at weekends.

She said: "Our quality of life is definitely impaired and I would like something to be done about it."

But when the complaints were put to Mr Aslam, he said he did the best he could to ensure his factory was a minimum nuisance to his neighbours, and that a new extractor system had just been put in to reduce the noise and sawdust leakage.

He said: "It's a manufacturing firm and of course there are some problems with noise and traffic and other things.

"The factory's not in the best position, but we are doing our best to keep things as trouble-free as possible."

The council is to call a meeting between Mr Aslam, residents and councillors.

Coun Donna Caley said: "It's imperative residents keep environment services informed of every problem to make sure it can be used as evidence. Officers need to know what's coming out of those chimneys, and every time they make a noise they need to be out there monitoring it."