AN anti-drugs crusader has been forced to change his routine after receiving death threats.

Councillor Ken Walker, who is campaigning to have the houses of racketeering landlords confiscated, began alternating his routes even before receiving the latest telephone threat at the weekend.

The Cleveland Police Authority chairman said he had received a number of threats.

He said: "I'm human, like anyone else, and of course I care for my own safety and family, and I'm taking the necessary precautions to ensure I am not left totally vulnerable.

"If we back down to these people, things will only get worse. We have people living in 24 hours of hell, seven days a week, and someone has got to stand up for them, and I am going to be one of those.

"These are people who are genuinely frightened, people who get their homes vandal-ised, who are on the receiving end of verbal and physical assaults; these are decent people who dare not let their kids out in case they get caught up in all of this. I am not giving in."

The latest telephone threat came days after Coun Walker sent hundreds of letters around his Gresham ward, urging people to tell him dealers' names and their activities.

He has written to Home Secretary David Blunkett and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, worried that low house prices in Middlesbrough are bringing drugs barons to the town from London and the home counties.

A spokesman for Cleveland Police said: "Mr Walker is an experienced councillor who has close links with the people in his ward and is obviously doing his best for them. I think Coun Walker is well aware of the dangers and problems of drug dealing and works closely with police on this matter.''