Drug addicts '˜infest' area

The accounts come after Derbyshire Times reported claims that Brampton had become a ‘no-go’ area in recent weeks, with police responding to drunken street brawls and addicts openly taking drugs in broad daylight.

One Boythorpe resident, who did not want to be named, said the area of wasteland near the old Robinson site on Factory Street, known locally as the ‘plantation’, had become a distribution hub for dealers and addicts and that dozens of used needles had been found there.

“Last year there may have been a few of them around but during the last three months it has got much worse,” said the woman.

“Now we are seeing people dealing, seeking and using drugs on the plantation at the cemetery and in alleyways near William Rhodes School.

“A friend of mine saw one young lad in the graveyard at Boythorpe cemetery with his trousers down to his knees injecting himself in the groin.”

The woman said she and fellow residents were worried many of the people buying and using drugs in the area were coming from outside Chesterfield.

She said: “I think they are coming from far and wide because someone is dropping those drugs off in the plantation.

“It is not right when you have elderly people too scared to go down the shops - I feel for the people on Chatsworth Road but it’s happening here as well.”

Rachel Purvis, headteacher at William Rhodes School, said she had also raised parents’ concerns with police.

She added: “Parents have reported to me that in some alleyways people have been seen taking drugs.

“I responded by holding an assembly on needle safety and what to do if they found a needle while out playing. I would like to make it clear that no drugs or paraphernalia have been found on-site.”

PC David Randell from Holmebrook and Rother Safer Neighbourhood Team said: “Police are aware of issues relating to anti-social behaviour in the Factory Street area of Boythorpe. Officers are working with partner agencies and acting on intelligence to tackle the issue.”

A spokesman for Robinson Plc, which owns the land off Factory Street, confirmed that needles had been found during inspections by its building maintenance scheme.