ONE of the region's leading drugs workers said yesterday there was evidence that Derwentside was relatively drugs-free, compared to other areas in County Durham.

But he warned that the problem of drug abuse was becoming worse in certain areas.

After the opening of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation unit, David Cliff,drug action team coordinator for County Durham, said it was hard to provide a definitive picture.

He said that elsewhere in the county, most of the 1,800 people who asked services for help each year were heroin or other illegal drug users, whereas in Derwentside most of the calls were about alcohol abuse.

But that was beginning to change.

Mr Cliff said the police had made significant seizures of drugs, and staff involved in tackling addictions had noticed a change.

He said: "It is hard to have accurate statistics for a number of reasons, although were are looking at ways we can analyse the problem across the region better.

"But the great thing about this new centre is that we are hoping to be able to get stuck in before the horse has bolted."