SWINDON DRUGS HOTLINE: DRUG users trying to beat their addiction can get advice on how to rebuild their lives from a new website.

The site, launched today by the Wiltshire Health Promotion Service, aims to address addicts' complaints that there is not enough information available to them about treatment programmes.

The site which can be reached at www.drugsinwiltshire.org.uk has a directory of treatment agencies. There is also a section which answers questions about drug problems and information for professionals working in rehabilitation.

The site is not intended solely for drug users as it also has information for people battling against alcohol problems.

It is funded by cash from the Government's Building Safer Communities Fund and outlines how national drug strategies are being implemented in Wiltshire.

Swindon has about 3,000 heroin and crack cocaine addicts, and the number is rising fast.

Drug agencies have welcomed the site as a valuable tool. Glenys Armstrong, who heads Swindon's Drug and Alcohol Action Team, said: "It is very important for addicts and their families to be able to get information.

"Sometimes people complain that they don't know how to get in touch with treatment centres, so this should help.

"I think youngsters in particular will find it easier to access information from the web than other means."

Pauline Barnes, of treatment charity Stepping Forward, in Whitbourne Avenue, Walcot, said: "A lot of young people think treatment isn't available, but it is out there.

"They need to be able to find out where they need to go, and what is most appropriate for them.

"For example, if someone is using a huge amount of heroin, it would be no good coming to us, they would need one of the statutory agencies."

Jan Andersen, whose son Kristian committed suicide with an overdose of heroin at the age of 20 also backed the initiative.

Mrs Andersen, 43, from Freshbrook, who runs her own website for children suffering from depression, said: "Anything that raises the level of education about drugs has to be a good thing. There is not enough information out there. It's not just addicts who need information, parents do too. I'm sure this resource will be a huge help."

l The Swindon Drugs Hotline is playing a crucial role in catching dealers who sell £18million of class A drugs in the borough each year. So far, 200 people have called the phone line, set up by the police and the Evening Advertiser, to leave information about suspected dealers.

Tamash Lal