Croydon has been chosen as one of three areas nationally to pilot a £1 million drug treatment scheme.

The initiative, also being run in Merseyside and Gloucestershire, aims to break the links between drug use and criminal behaviour.

Testing and treatment orders will enable Croydon's courts to sentence offenders to receive treatment for drug addiction and to undergo random drug testing.

Terry Hanafin, chairman of Croydon's Drug Action Team which will oversee the pilot, said: "We're delighted to have been chosen to pilot testing and treatment orders. We have a strong history of co-operation between the agencies which will need to be involved."

The Drug Action Team has a week of activities from March 16, at Croydon, Coulsdon and John Ruskin Colleges.

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