In the week after 16-year-old Kate Walsh was found dead in a squat from a suspected drug overdose, police say they are determined to convict Swindon's evil dealers.

THIS week the Advertiser reported the death of Highworth teenager Kate Walsh from a suspected drugs overdose.

Now the latest police performance figures show Swindon police are winning the fight against the scourge of Class A drugs with the help of the Evening Advertiser-backed Swindon Drugs Hotline.

The figures reveal that between April and December last year 42 people were charged or cautioned for supplying Class A drugs, like heroin and crack cocaine.

That is nearly double the number for the same period in 2002 and if the trend continues police will have more than doubled their target figure by April.

Bill Fishlock, chairman of the Police Authority's audit and monitoring committee, said: "It's vitality important for people to have something like the Swindon Drugs Hotline, where they feel confident and comfortable that their anonymity has been maintained, to report things.

"The hotline is yet another mechanism helping to record what is an obvious problem in Swindon. I hate the thought of drugs on the streets especially when they get into the hands of young people."

Since it's launch in June last year, more than 200 people have left information about drug pushers and dealing in their neighbourhoods on the confidential helpline.

The trade in Class A drugs is worth around £18 million each year in Swindon alone and there are currently around 3,000 heroin addicts in the town with the number rising fast.

Next week a multi-agency probe featuring representatives from the police, social services, and education department, will begin into how 16-year-old Kate Walsh died and what lessons need to be learned. Her body was found in a Manchester Road squat earlier this month.

Drug addicts are blamed for soaring burglary figures and the statistics, from Wiltshire Police Authority's quarterly performance review reveal that domestic burglaries in Swindon between April and December last year stood at 947 nearly 150 more than during the same period in 2002.

The Swindon Police crackdown on burglaries, Operation Delta, which was initially a three-month programme, has now been rolled out full-time to nail offenders.

Mr Fishlock said: "The number of burglaries has gone up and detection has gone down, but hopefully the Operation Delta team can work on this. I'm disappointed with what I have seen because we set targets that are sane and sensible and we're not hitting them, but I'm pleased that the force has recognised this and has taken action."

The number of distraction burglaries when bogus callers prey on householders is down.

Between April and December last year there were 52 in Swindon compared to 65 during the same period in 2002.

And the number of people killed or seriously injured on Swindon's roads is slightly down with 40 victims between April and December last year compared with 46 during the same period in 2002.

To report details of drug use and drug pushing in confidence call the Swindon Drugs Hotline on 01793 528800.

Giles Sheldrick