Former heroin junkie George Weir (right) has completed the transformation in his life by winning a place at Oxford's Ruskin College.

He was an addict at 16 and for a decade he stole, begged and cheated to pay for his habit.

Now 31, he has given up drugs and won a place on a social work course.

George, of Chestnut Avenue, Blyth, Northumberland, said: "I had virtually given up any hope of living a normal life. I committed petty crimes to fund my habit. You cannot have the habit I had without breaking the law."

But George cleaned up his act, becoming the first registered heroin addict in his home town - once one of Britain's most notorious drug blackspots. He completed a further education course at Northumberland College and will start a two-year diploma at Ruskin in September. Ruskin College, in Walton Street, Oxford, was established in 1899 by trade union groups for local workers. In August, Dave Hill, 22 - who had spent his life in care, jail and on the streets - won a place on a sociology course at the college.

Richard Bryant, co-ordinator of Ruskin's diploma in social work, said: "George has worked hard and has been offered a place on the course. We look forward to seeing him and the other students in September."

Story date: Thursday 06 April

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