CLASS A drugs are being sold in Swindon's town centre in broad daylight.

An Evening Advertiser reporter managed to buy crack, heroin and cannabis in the town centre, while shoppers, including children on their summer holidays, basked in the sun nearby.

It is a problem the authorities know about, but seem unable to prevent.

There are now more than 2,000 people addicted to heroin and crack cocaine. Many have to resort to crime to pay for the habit, burgling homes, shoplifting or robbing people in the street.

Dealers dictate shoplifting lists to their customers, who can be seen queuing to buy illegal substances in popular town centre pubs.

Our reporter was sent into the town centre with a shopping list of hard drugs and cannabis. She managed to buy all three in the space of a busy Friday lunch hour.

Armed with a few £5 notes she approached people and asked them if they knew where she could "score".

The first person she approached said he had access to hash and told her it was "real decent draw". He disappeared into The Riflemans pub in Regent Street, returning with a pouch of 'weed' which the reporter bought for £10.

Next she approached a group sitting in The Parade, who said they were waiting for their pusher to arrive.

They said there was a drug drought because so many dealers were in prison at the moment. But they said there is always at least someone on call, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

One junkie was getting impatient, saying he needed a fix, and fast. After a few calls a contact came good and an arrangement was made to meet the supplier outside Yates's wine bar in Bridge Street.

The dealer seemed friendly. Then he started dictating a shoplifting list to a man standing in the orderly queue. It included domestic goods like towels and bedspreads.

Again, no one batted an eyelid that our reporter was buying crack in broad daylight. £15 secured her a grit-sized piece of crack wrapped in foil. It was too easy.

Yet it is also deadly. All the addicts had fatal tales to tell 'My brother died with a needle up his arm'; "He's only got a few days to live'.

Walking back into the shopping centre, our reporter turned her attention to heroin. She asked someone who was begging for change to allegedly "buy a bag of chips." He was actually raising funds to feed his heroin habit.

The reporter bought her £15 round outside another pub. Again the dealer was approachable. She had just blown £40 on illegal, life-threatening drugs.