A SENIOR police officer is offering confidential advice to drug users after an increase in drug-related deaths.

Det Insp Paul Williams today appealed to addicts to contact him so he can give them advice on how to kick their habit.

He believes eight deaths in Worthing and Littlehampton since late December - four of them in Worthing in the last three weeks - were caused by illegal drugs.

He said: "These people were aged from 22 to 37. We are talking about the loss of young life, life with potential.

"I'm not going to say the problem is of epidemic proportions but we have had an unusually high number of what we think are drug-related deaths."

He said people are mainly being killed by overdoses of methadone and heroin.

And in a bid to stem the tide, he wants drug users trying to kick their habit to call him personally at Worthing police station.

He said: "Taking drugs is dangerous and it's led to a serious loss of life in this area. But there are services here to help people.

"If any user wants help, they can contact me and I will give them whatever advice I can.

"The same applies to parents whose children may be using drugs," said Mr Williams.

"I also want to hear from anyone who has information about drug dealers locally."

In the year leading up to April, 1998, the last figures available, 75 dealers were caught in Highdown Division, which covers Worthing, Littlehampton and Arundel, compared with 63 in Brighton.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.