UNITE against drug dealers by joining The Northern Echo's Rat on a Rat campaign.

If you know someone who is peddling in this evil trade, pick up the phone and call Crime-stoppers on 0800 555111.

You do not have to give your name, and your information may not only save lives but could also earn a reward.

Thousands of leaflets and hundreds of posters are being distributed around Chester-le-Street, County Durham, urging people to Rat on a Rat.

The message has also been taken to local pubs in the form of 10,000 beer mats, which pub landlords around the town have agreed to stock.

Chief Inspector Laz Szomoru is from the Durham Agency Against Crime which, with The Northern Echo, is giving cash backing to the campaign.

He said: "Plenty of people talk to each other about people in the community who might be dealing. They might even witness drug dealing.

"It's these people we want to contact us via Crimestoppers. If they have seen the beer mat in a pub, they can discreetly slip it into their pocket and give us a call when they get home.

"There are even plenty of people in the criminal community who don't want heroin and other hard drugs being sold on their estate.

"In Derbyshire, this kind of scheme was a resounding success. If that is repeated in Chester-le-Street, we'll introduce it in Darlington and other parts of County Durham."

The two-month campaign comes in the wake of five heroin-related deaths in Chester-le-Street in the past five years and drug-related problems including shootings, domestic violence, assaults and burglaries.

The Northern Echo will be looking at other drug-related issues, such as what happens when an addict goes cold turkey and why people turn to dealing in drugs.