MORE than 100 young people from rival gangs fought each other in the

main street of Whitburn, West Lothian, early yesterday as police tried

to control the brawl.

Rivalry between youngsters in Whitburn and its neighbour Blackburn,

three miles away, is thought to have been at the root of the clash.

Twenty five police officers from Whitburn and other parts of West

Lothian were at the scene and used vans to separate the gangs.

Police in Edinburgh were put on standby. Fourteen arrests were made

for various public order offences and it is understood that a woman was

among those detained. Police said yesterday that a report would be made

to the procurator-fiscal.

The disturbance took place at 1am, an hour after public houses had

shut and is thought to have started after a disco closed.

Mr Thomas Ross, 27, of West Main Street, Whitburn, said yesterday he

had been walking along the street to find a taxi when he was told to

take a roundabout route because the cross had been blocked off.

Trouble had been building up for three or four weeks with Blackburn

youths coming to Whitburn at the weekend. ''There can normally be a

skirmish but there has been nothing like this before,'' he said.

A woman, who declined to give her name, said young men and women were

involved in the fighting and some bottles were used.

Councillor Jim Dickson, chairman of West Lothian licensing board, said

last night that late-night disturbances among young people were becoming

a serious problem in Whitburn and had been going on for three months on

Fridays and Saturdays.

Two discos in the main street area closed at 1am but one cause of the

trouble could have been that youths bought drink from off-licences and

consumed it in the street later.