THE UK drugs tsar, Keith Hellawell, visited Blackpool on Monday (June 29) to attend the high profile official opening of the New Start Project in Blackpool.

New Start, on Talbot Road, Blackpool, is one of only a handful of such specialist centres in the country which offers help, support and assistance to alcohol and drug misusers.

Ian Phillips, strategy co-ordinator for the Lancashire drug action team, a partner in the New Start Project, explained: "This is a new and innovative scheme which has been running since December to teach those who have been through rehabilitation treatment the social skills they need to re-integrate themselves into society.

"Staff at the centre aim to offer advice on job skills, education opportunities and how to use leisure time. The focus of the work is support, not treatment and this is very important at a vital time in the rehabilitation process when relapse rates are very high."

The day care centre is a pilot scheme and has only been running for a short time but there have been a high number of referrals. So far the response looks promising and the centre certainly seems to be playing its part in countering the country's growing drug problem.

Mr Hellawell, the UK's anti-drugs co-ordinator, commented: "I am pleased to see the commitment to multi-agency collaboration in the Lancashire region. It is only by such work that there can be an impact on the problem of drug misuse. This is a complex issue often compounded by social problems and needs to be handled sensitively."

The ceremony marked Mr Hellawell's first official visit to Lancashire.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.