WE read with interest about your campaign to remove drug dealers from the streets of Keighley.

While we also work to reduce drug-related harm, we are concerned about the bleak picture presented of Keighley as a town in a mess.

Project 6 is a local charity providing treatment and support to people with drug and alcohol problems in Keighley.

In 2016 the charity provided structured treatment and recovery services to 919 people in this period, resulting in 750 leaving drug free or using less and some 200 going on to take part in recovery activities leading to taking up education, training or employment. These people will no longer be part of the drug taking economy but be adding something back into the community and the economy.

This is the way to tackle this issue. If the demand dries up then the dealers will disappear.

Unfortunately, the slash and burn of local authority budgets by the Government means that these sources of prevention and help are now facing severe cuts as councils struggle to balance the books.

Keighley has borne the brunt of statutory sector cuts for a number of years and now prevention services are facing between 65 per cent and 100 per cent cuts which will only serve to increase health inequalities. We will see an increase in drug and alcohol use and the harms caused to individuals, families and communities.

Over the last decade the investment of the Government in providing treatment for people misusing drugs has paid off – drug use is significantly lower in the UK than it was a decade ago.

It is incorrect to state that the drug problem in Keighley is getting worse – it’s actually the alcohol problem that is on the increase, drug use is relatively stable.

However, Cllr Ahmed rightly states: “If we don’t do something about the issue, it’s only going to get even worse. It’s in the interests of our future generations that we protect them from harm.”

If we all wish to make a sustainable difference to the issue of drug use in Keighley then we implore both the local communities and politicians to pay attention to what’s happening to the services currently working hard to make a difference in Keighley. Once they are gone, they are gone.

VICKI BEERE Chief Executive Officer, Project 6