Swindon Council has difficult choices to make as it looks to balance its budget this year.

And it has a duty to look at areas where savings can be made.

Some of the decisions to come in the near future will be unpalatable for everyone, but they are a necessary evil.

But there is a question of whether, in some cases, the council is simply robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Swindon has a chronic drugs problem. There are around 2,000 addicts. They bring with them huge problems through crime and pressure on health services.

The Druglink Project has only just won a battle for Government money to fund front line projects tackling drugs.

It has started work safe in the knowledge that there is a fund to pay to continue its work, helping recovering addicts stay off drugs and preventing others from slipping into the downward spiral of addiction.

Now that fund, some £43,000, is in danger of being used to plug holes in other parts of the council's budget.

Councillor John Taylor and Druglink project manager Glenys Armstrong are right to oppose any dilution in the work of drug workers in the town.

Cuts, if they have to come, should be made in other areas.

There is no justification in taking money from a service that, for many, could mean the difference between life and death.