THE Duchess of Northumberland's controversial Poison Garden was opened yesterday.

Cannabis, opium poppies, tobacco and the coca plant, the source of cocaine, feature in the garden, which is part of Alnwick Garden, in Northumberland.

The drugs will be grown alongside more than 50 dangerous plants in the country's largest public poison garden.

Mind-bending magic mushrooms, opium poppies and seeds will also be cultivated in the garden, which was designed by Belgian Peter Virtz.

Also planned are the poisonous foxglove, deadly nightshade, mandrake and tobacco plants.

The £400,000 garden, which is next to Alnwick Castle, the backdrop to the blockbuster Harry Potter movies, will be one of the most exciting features of the Alnwick Garden and will show how plants have poisoned, cured and killed through the ages.

Because of the danger, the public will be escorted through the walled garden by marshals, and some plants are so deadly they will be behind security bars.

The Alnwick Garden Trust is growing the plants for educational purposes after it received Home Office approval.

To ensure the Poison Garden meets the Government's drug education guidelines, the trust has been working closely with Northumberland County Council and drug workers.

The trust's patron, the Duchess of Northumberland, who opened the garden with Northumbria Police Chief Constable Crispian Strachan, said it would help educate people.

She said: "The garden's appeal of danger presents teachers and parents with a new avenue to tackle drug awareness with young people.

''After all, young people are more fascinated by what plants can kill you than what plants are good for you.

''We want to ensure that effective drug awareness messages are delivered in the Poison Garden within the Government guidelines for drug education.

''We agree with the central message of Frank, the Government's drug education campaign, which is 'drugs are illegal but talking about them is not'."