YOUNGSTERS on a Sunderland estate have produced a compact disc (CD) to help their peers avoid drink and drug problems.

The group Drugbusters is for teenagers at Pennywell, which is undergoing a multi-million pound facelift.

The youngsters are part of the area's Youth Participation Project, a four-year scheme to get involved in the estate's regeneration and boost their skills and confidence.

The CD includes information on how drugs affect the brain, answers to questions about drugs, and contact numbers for agencies such as the National Drugs Helpline. The disc will be available throughout the area.

Youth Participation Project development worker Kirk Green said: "It's really encouraging to see youngsters getting behind a project like this.

"The group designed the CD from scratch and knew what they wanted on it.

"We hope that because the CD has been designed by young people, youngsters of the same age will be able to relate to it.

"The CD is a testament to how far these youngsters have come since getting involved with the project. We hope this encourages more youngsters to get involved, and hopefully we will see many more positive initiatives like Drugbusters.''

Drugbusters group member Laura Smith said: "All of us have worked really hard to produce this CD, so we hope it will be useful to other teen-agers in the area.

"We all became involved with the Youth Participation Project because we were interested in the opportunities it offered, and we wanted to make a difference.

"We hope the CD will do exactly that.