MILLIONS of pounds are to be channelled into the region to help break the link between drugs and crime.

The Home Office has announced that £70m of Communities Against Drugs (CAD) funding will be allocated across the country in the coming weeks.

It will be aimed at disrupting illicit drugs markets, offering treatment and support for offenders, and driving drug dealers out of neighbourhoods.

Groups working in the North-East and North Yorkshire will receive more than £6m.

In Newcastle, £245,100 will be shared among projects helping those involved in the fight against drugs.

Among those to benefit will be the city's street wardens and a centre which offers help to drug users, which will be refurbished.

In Durham, £77,800 will be split between various projects. The money will buy a Blitz Bus to provide a mobile advice and youth service as well as a scanner dog to help detect drugs in the community.

Home Office Minister, John Denham, launching the funding, said: "Class A drugs and crime are clearly linked.

"Tackling them both is key to ending the cycle of drug dependency and criminal activity that ruins lives and wrecks communities, and is a Government priority.

"By helping the police and residents strengthen their local communities, we are determined we can break links between drugs and crime, and make our streets safer places."

A total of £210,300 will be spent in Middlesbrough, with a team of community and drug wardens employed to target drug-related crimes.

This latest money will help Middlesbrough police with its Dealer a Day campaign, which the force launched last year.

The initiative to take one dealer off the streets every day has resulted in more than 250 arrests and more than 270 raids.

Drugs with a street value of more than £68,000 have been recovered and more than £39,000 in cash has been seized.

Inspector Gary Gamesby, of Middlesbrough police, said: "There will be no let up in our campaign to stamp out the menace of drugs.

"We will continue daily raids to bring home the message to people that drugs in Middlesbrough will not be tolerated.''

In North Yorkshire, the Home Office money will be shared between projects in most major towns.

In Harrogate, £97,700 will be distributed, with £88,300 in Scarborough, and £163,800 in York.