Carol singers are being warned away from doorsteps this Christmas in case residents find them threatening.

Police and neighbourhood watch organisers in Preston, Lancashire, have produced official notices for nervous residents to place in their windows, reports the Daily Telegraph.

The yellow postcard-sized signs, also being handed out at libraries and GPs’ surgeries, read: “Sorry no carol singers, I won’t open my door to you.” Produced by the Safer Chorley and South Ribble Partnership, they have already been distributed in Penwortham, a middle class suburb of Preston and there are plans to hand them out more widely.

It represents an extension of a tactic widely used at Hallowe’en to deter unwanted trick-or-treaters.

But some church leaders said the suggestion that people were now afraid of carol singers was an alarming reflection on modern Britain.

“It is a terrible state of affairs that people are terrified of answering their doors, so this is what they have to do,” said Father Timothy Lipscomb, the Vicar of Preston.

However, Chief Insp Richard Robertshaw of Lancashire Police rejected accusations of a “bah-humbug” approach.

“Singing Christmas carols is a wonderful tradition which we encourage, as long as children are considerate,” he said.

“But while carol singers bring festive cheer to many, we must bear in mind there are residents who for a variety of genuine reasons, are not comfortable with having groups of people at their doors.”

Isn’t it about time we in this country started calling an end to this kind of nonsense? It’s not the carol singers who are the problem, it’s our society. And if we don’t stop rewarding criminals instead of punishing them, matters are only going to get worse.

So perhaps instead of local authorities wasting money on printing postcards the courts should be properly punishing offenders so that we in our Third Age no longer feel afraid of opening our front doors to strangers.

I suppose next they’ll be banning the buying of Christmas presents because it encourages burglars!