A CRACKDOWN on drug dealers has been launched along the Prittle Brook path following complaints.

Residents say dealers and addicts pass through the area like a procession of ants, where one dealer disappears only to be replaced by another.

Police have been targeting the stretch near Springfield allotments, off Springfield Drive, Westcliff, in an effort to catch the culprits.

They are also focusing on near-by alleyways, after PCSOs found dirty needles in the alley off Brightwell Avenue.

Sgt Gary Lane, of Leigh police, said: “We’ve had complaints from residents in Hainault Avenue, but also Fairfax Drive, where they border on to the brook, so we’ve run an operation there. People would have seen police there over the past couple of weeks.”

Police believed addicts were meeting dealers at a flat in Hainault Avenue and then going down to the brook to get their drugs. However, Sgt Lane said the path along Prittle Brook is still well-used by law-abiding residents.

Sgt Lane said: “We were out last Monday in plain clothes and there were quite a few people walking their dogs, and mums walking kids to nursery – it doesn’t have the feel of a no-go area.”

A resident in Hainault Avenue, who asked not to be named, said she had been experiencing problems there for years – and was thankful police were taking action.

She said: “The police are always going up and down the brook. They couldn’t be more helpful.

“But you’d be a bit naive to think you’ll get rid of it completely. It goes on wherever you live.”

She said many of the usual faces seem to have been driven away, but some seemed to have been replaced by new ones. She said: “It’s like an ants’ nest. You think that it’s great they are gone, and then new ones appear.”

Anyone with information can call the Blenheim neighbourhood policing team on 07817 968093.

Residents who want to raise concerns can also attend the Westborough Neighbourhood Action Panel meeting at St Andrew’s Church, in Westbor-ough Road, from 7pm on February 7.