A regional daily successfully challenged a bid to keep secret the names of two teenage girls who perpetrated a campaign of racist abuse against their neighbours.

The Lancashire Evening Post won the challenge at Preston Youth Court after the family of 14-year-old sisters Ellie and Morgan Cairns attempted to implement an order preventing their identification.

The pair were the ringleaders of a group that subjected long-suffering residents to a campaign of racist abuse and nuisance behaviour to people on the estate in Preston where they live.

Under an order imposed by the court, they are now banned from inciting or causing anti social behaviour in a set area of the city, such as swearing, spitting and using foul or abusive language.

The court’s decision provided a front page story for the LEP, pictured above, in which the pair’s names were revealed for the first time.

The successful challenge was made by LEP court report Stef Hall.

She told HTFP: “The LEP will always be keen to challenge such orders when the courts try to impose them because it is in the interests of the community to know about them.

“It’s the third such challenge in a fortnight. We also successfully challenged an attempt to put a S45 order on a dead baby’s living siblings to stop us reporting the case.”

The story in Thursday’s edition of the newspaper, include details of how the pair’s behaviour – including using racist names, spitting, throwing stones, fruits and vegetables at cars, climbing on flats, sheds and schools, and setting fires.

They had arrived at court with Ellie sporting a black eye and Morgan with scratches, after apparently fighting with each other the night before.

The girls have not been convicted of any criminal offence but the injunction relates to a period of behaviour by the group, the court heard.