A MYTH becomes reality today when a drugs squad is added to the list of operational units working within the North Yorkshire police force.

Dealers and users across the county have always risked court appearances and even prison in the past.

However, operations aimed at eliminating the illegal use of narcotics in North Yorkshire have been led either by individual CID offices or more widespread partnerships between divisional headquarters and the Regional Crime Squad.

However, three specialised units are launched in the county this morning, each comprising a detective sergeant and five detective constables.

One will be in the Western Division, covering the districts of Richmondshire, Craven and Harrogate, another in the East, concentrating on parts of Hambleton, the east coast and Ryedale, and another in the Central Division, focusing on York and Selby.

In overall command of the 20-strong squad is Detective Inspector Ian Willis.

He said: "North Yorkshire Police have been at the forefront of innovative and effective ways to deal with drug misuse problems, such as the arrest referral schemes.

He said: "However, we also have to deal with those who supply drugs.

"We now have a dedicated unit able to focus and concentrate on that problem and our aim is to stifle the availability of drugs in the county.

"The teams will operate locally, but we will also have the ability to combine our resources across the force and work with other forces whenever that becomes necessary.

"The other big advantage, of course, comes from the funding arrangement. We now have 20 officers we simply did not have before."

The money to cover the cost of the department has come from the Government's Crime Fighting Fund.

The North Yorkshire force was granted £800,000 earlier this year, to add to another £2m from the Rural Policing Fund. As a result, a recruitment drive was launched earlier this year, which should take police manpower in the county to its highest level since it was formed in 1974, by March next year.