DRUGS Tsar Keith Hellawell expressed concerns over an explosion in the region's drugs trade during a return visit to Teesside.

Mr Hellawell, a former chief constable of Cleveland, was in Middlesbrough to launch the NSPCC's anti-cruelty Full Stop appeal yesterday.

He recalled a time when drugs were hardly a problem in the area, and said that an attempt should be made to discover how they have taken hold.

"There was hardly a drug problem when I came here in 1990. The main problem with young people was drink," he said.

"Although the drink problem is still there, in some ways, the drug problem has overtaken it.

"The question for us all is why is that the case?"

Mr Hellawell, who arrived at Middlesbrough FC's Riverside Stadium to promote the Full Stop appeal among business leaders, said he had been struck by the high occurrence of drug-related prostitution on his return.

"I have noticed that there is certainly a high number of young women prostitutes in Middlesbrough," he said. "In terms of the national strategy against drugs, we talk about vulnerable young people, and the area certainly has a high proportion."

Mr Hellawell predicted that the national anti-drugs programme that he has masterminded, now two years into its decade of operation, would make significant improvements.

He placed the onus on the local Drugs Action Team to make it work on Teesside.

"We've got a ten-year strategy and, after two years, we are already seeing some success," he said. In Middlesbrough, the Drug Action Team has to look at local needs and tailor it to the area."