TOWN council bosses said they plan to step up their zero tolerance approach to drugs by launching an anti-drug initiative in primary schools.

Following the discovery of a £1million cannabis farm in a building of Wood Street and Hacking Street, Darwen described as 'one of the most sophisticated set-ups in the UK', Darwen Town Council’s attitude to drugs has come under scrutiny.

Darwen Mayor, Cllr Roy Davies said: “This isn’t a new issue for us.

“Obviously drugs are a problem in Darwen, but they are a problem everywhere.

“We have been working on something to counteract the problem for a long time.”

In September Darwen Town Council will be teamed up with Coram Life Education, the leading provider of health, wellbeing and drugs education, across the UK to educate children on the dangers of drugs.

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The initiative will see trained educators delivering memorable life skills in a mobile classrooms to children from reception to year six.

The programme, which is being backed by Blackburn with Darwen council, is set to launch in September, and will be available to children in primary schools within the Darwen boundary.

Cllr Kevin Connor, deputy leader of Darwen Town Council said: “We have had cross party support for this initiative.

“This is the kind of thing you like to see council money spent on.

“It’s important that children learn how things like smoking and drug taking can limit their lives.”

The training provided will be tailored to each year group, and will see younger children learning about the importance of hygiene and older pupils learning about substance abuse.

Cllr Davies said: “We want to start at the bottom and work our way up.

“Then children of parents who use drugs will be going home with the knowledge from the Life Education and putting pressure on their family to stop.”