A member of the House of Lords has met people at the frontline of fighting drug and alcohol addiction in Keighley.

Professor Lord Kamlesh Patel of Bradford visited Project 6 drug and alcohol agency, in Temple Street. He was invited to speak to staff and users of the facility by NHS Bradford and Airedale’s commissioning team for substance misuse.

Lord Patel is known for his work in challenging substance abuse, crime and helping people suffering from mental illness. He has previously been chairman of the Mental Health Act Commission.

Responding to how Project 6 has expanded since the early 1990s, he said: “It’s great to see how it has developed. Fifteen to eighteen years ago it comprised a handful of people trying to deal with individuals with a very wide range of problems.

“Now it has all sorts of different options available, ranging from crisis interventions to more structured counselling. And it’s gone beyond focusing purely on drug use, to things like getting people housed and into employment.

“You need a joined up service as opposed to a place where people just bob in, get some crisis attention, then disappear again.”

He said truly effective treatment was not possible without addressing the underlying reasons why people took drugs.

“People are more enlightened about these problems today — we’ve moved on a tremendous amount since the early 1980s,” he said.

“But you still have prejudices and negative stereotypes about people who take drugs, or about people with mental illnesses.”

Project 6 director Mike Cadger said it was important for the facility to receive visits from people such as Lord Patel.

He added it was particularly vital for them to meet and speak to service users.

“The big change has been to move away from just dealing with the symptoms of the problem,” he said. “Drug use is a symptom of a much greater social malaise.

“We’re now trying to get people to repair their entire lives, which is about employability, self-esteem and coping with family breakdown.”

He said he sensed there was still plenty of commitment from the Government to support groups like Project 6.

He said the Government knew it was cheaper to provide community-based treatment for drug abuse, than to deal with consequences such as having to jail people.