Teesside MPs are calling for better drug programmes and rehabilitation centres in the area.

Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Ashok Kumar has sponsored an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons calling for more and better Government-funded drug detoxification and rehabilitation facilities across Teesside.

He was backed by Redcar MP Vera Baird and Frank Cook, MP for Stockton North.

The Early Day Motion highlights the scale of the drugs problem in the area, where an estimated 37,000 people use illegal drugs on a regular basis. The scale of heroin addiction in the region is such that it affects almost 50 newborn babies a year and has resulted in children as young as eight using the drug.

The motion calls for more rehabilitation centres to be set up under the auspices of the Government's robbery reductions initiative.

Dr Kumar said: "We should not hide from the fact that there is a significant and growing drugs problem here on Teesside.

"We know that a lot of local crime - especially robbery and housebreaking - is drug-fuelled and we must accept that the problem will not go away of its own accord.

"A small band of dedicated health professionals are bearing the brunt of this epidemic. They are doing great work in the clinics and in the community but we urgently need more and better facilities, such as detoxification centres and rehabilitation units.

"Without these we will simply see more local youngsters using theft and violence to feed an insatiable habit.

"The Government has announced a pilot programme in a number of areas which provides and funds these facilities, but Teesside was omitted.

"The sheer scale of the problem here means that the Government should review its list so that Teesside is included."