A MOTHER is standing up to champion the battle against drug dealers and users.

Amanda Hall took her fight to Huddersfield Town Hall, calling on Kirklees councillors and police to do more.

And she urged people in the community to be more active in the fight against the youth drug-taking culture.

Miss Hall, who lives in Lockwood, addressed members of Kirklees's Huddersfield South Area Committee.

In an impassioned speech she outlined the problems of drug abuse among young people in her area.

She said: "I am here because I care, so much so that I am losing out on a day's wages to be here.

"You hear things all the time about people taking drugs - but it is quite different when you see it yourself.

"I was walking up the road the other day when two young men, younger than my own child, pulled down their trousers right in front of me and injected drugs in their groins.

"I saw another child inject himself inside his arm in broad daylight. These things should not be accepted."

Miss Hall urged the police to rid the area of `unseen' drug dealers who gather around the Swan Lane flats.

She also reported drug dealing outside the Hanfia Mosque on Bentley Street.

Miss Hall, a member of Lockwood Tenants' and Residents' Association, said she understood that the police were doing all they could with the resources they have.

But she believes there should be more police patrolling the Lockwood area, particularly Swan Lane.

"It is bad enough when adults do drugs. But when it's children, what chance do they have?

"It is easy to turn a blind eye to all this, but they could easily be our children or our nieces and nephews who get hold of the drugs."

The committee was told that an action plan by Kirklees Safer Communities Partnership and the Neighbourhood Policing Teams was being formed by to tackle the issue.

The problems on Bentley Street will be investigated as a new issue.

Police said they were doing a lot of work in Lockwood.

Operations to shut down `crack houses' throughout the area were continuing.

A Netherton resident also reported drug problems in the playground area in the village.

He also said local people - especially those over 65 - were too frightened to go out at night.

Police promised to investigate.

After the meeting Miss Hall said: "When you see people dealing and taking drugs just a few streets away from your home it shocks you to the core. There are better ways of living life.

"I think people are afraid of talking to the police. But we all need to stand up to these drug dealers, we cannot live our lives in fear.

"The parents need to know what is going on with their children. They would be heartbroken if they knew.

"When you see adults taking drugs it is usually self-inflicted. But when you see children doing it they have been pushed into it.

"People seem to think it is an acceptable part of culture nowadays. But it is not acceptable and it is not a normal way of living.

"We can't just sit back and blame the problem on the police. As a community we need to stand up and be counted.

"These young people are a part of our community and as a community we need to recognise this and work together to tackle the problem."