A CHARITY leader in Oxford has backed multi-agency efforts to clamp down on drug use.

On Thursday, the Oxford Mail reported on brazen drug use and dealing on city streets and explored the partnership work by Thames Valley Police, Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council to tackle the problem.

Police have arrested 20 suspected drug dealers in and around Oxford since mid-February – averaging four a week.

Now, the senior operations manager of addiction charity Turning Point has backed multi-agency work to disrupt public drug dealing – saying that users who find it harder to obtain drugs can be more likely to move towards recovery.

Andy Symons, who has more than 20 years’ experience in drug services, said: “It is concerning when there is public drug use.We don’t want to see open drug markets and so we’re really supportive of the partnership approach.

“We’ve had experiences in which users come to us and say it’s difficult to score and so want to talk more about treatment and making real life changes.”

Mr Symons said Turning Point, like police and the council, had been receiving increased reports about public drug use and dealing.

He pointed out, however, that the number of drug users is actually understood to be declining.

There are believed to be about 900 opiate users currently in Oxford.

Turning Point has been providing county-wide drug and alcohol services for the around three years.

It has four dedicated treatment hubs, which provide services six days a week, in Oxford, Banbury, Didcot and Witney and provides nursing input at GP surgeries.

The hubs operate as one-stop treatment centres providing a wide range of treatment options, including harm reduction advice, structured group work programme, activities, complementary therapies and one-to-one key work sessions to promote recovery.

Last year the city council collected more than 5,000 needles in Oxford. The Office for National Statistics found that there were 27 deaths related to drugs misuse in Oxford between 2014 and 2016.