A drugs ring flooding one of the most deprived areas in the country with crack and heroin has been dismantled by police.
Lancashire Constabulary, working with Merseyside Police, Greater Manchester Police and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU) rounded up 14 suspected drug dealers in raids this month. The criminal firm, based in Salford, had been supplying Blackpool with Class As using young drug runners in the so-called county lines model.
The Lancashire town regularly tops lists of deprivation indicators and has the worst rate of deaths from drug misuse in the country, according to Lancashire County Council.