THE AREA around Barnsley's prestigious Civic theatre is being used as a haven for drug addicts to feed their habits.
Paraphernalia including a used syringe, tin foil and empty packaging strewn about next to empty alcohol bottles, cigarette butts and litter on the shortcut path from Mandela Gardens to Eldon Street which runs down the side of the Civic.
In the past there has been problems with people taking 'legal highs' in and around Mandela Gardens, but Helen Ball, chief executive of the Civic, said drugs paraphernalia of this kind was not a common problem.
Patrols of Mandela Gardens had been stepped up to help tackle antisocial behaviour, drug and alcohol use and concerns around child sexual exploitation.
** The full story is in the Barnsley Chronicle, dated August 28. **
