UKP20M TO DRIVE OUT DRUG PUSHERS

Britain's most drug-afflicted communities are to received a cash injection
from the Government to fight street crime.

The 10 worst affected police forces, which are responsible for dealing with
82% of street crime, will share a UKP20 million handout, say the Home Office.

The announcement came as a report showed hard drugs "markets" were the main
obstacle preventing the regeneration of deprived neighbourhoods.

The cash boost will help to drive Class A drug pushers out of
neighbourhoods, disrupting the trade in narcotics and offering treatment
for offenders.

The money, alongside UKP50 million already earmarked for anti-drugs schemes
across the country this year, will also help tackle the stolen goods market
that funds drug habits.

Both sums are part of a three-year, UKP220 million Communities Against
Drugs package announced in last year's Budget.

Meanwhile the independent study, called A Rock and a Hard Place, said
heroin and crack cocaine were a "complex and growing problem" that needed
tackling at all levels.

Local agencies were not doing enough, given the scale of the problem,
according to the study by the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at
the London School of Economics and the Criminal Policy Research Unit at
South Bank University.

Speaking at the C2AD drugs project in Clapton, east London, Home Office
Minister John Denham 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."