Addicts 'need place to inject'

Drug users in Barnsley "should get shooting galleries"

A councillor in a South Yorkshire town has called for drug addicts to be provided with so-called "shooting galleries" where they can inject themselves.

Ian Guest said the streets in Barnsley town centre had been littered with over 2,500 used needles in the past 18 months.

The problem is particularly bad in the Sheffield Road area.

The councillor wants special areas introduced where addicts can receive clean needles which have to be returned after they have been used.

He told BBC Radio Sheffield: "We need to get these people to inject in a safe space where the needles are given and perhaps even the drugs are given.

"We can then talk to them and encourage them to come off drugs.

"If you want to work with these people and their chaotic lifestyle, you have to have services that match their needs."