POLICE are winning the war on drugs in south Cumbria, it has been claimed.

Strides are said to have been made in the last year on breaking down organised crime gangs flooding towns with drugs.

South Cumbria is one year into a pilot project called County Lines Informed Cumbria which aims to disrupt county lines drugs in Barrow and South Lakeland.

County lines refers to dedicated phone lines being used to sell drugs - and people - often transported from cities such as Liverpool and Manchester to places like Barrow.

The pilot project is said to have seen up to a 50 per cent reduction in consequential crime and demand in known drug ‘hotspot’ areas.

Since the 1CLIC pilot launched in February 2022, there were said to be nine known county lines organised crime gangs operating in the south of the county.

In under 12 months these have been disrupted with no active county lines currently in operation.

1CLIC sees police in Cumbria working in partnership with drug rehabilitation group The Well Communities.

The project identifies vulnerable people who are most at risk of being approached by drug gangs, supports them to move away from potential criminal behaviour and make positive life decisions.

Cumbria’s police and crime commissioner Peter McCall, who funded the project, said: “As a rural county, Cumbria is affected by county lines drugs supply imported from larger metropolitan areas.

"The 1CLIC programme is a fantastic pilot that cuts off the drugs path into south Cumbria.

“The programme is partnership and community lead, to help spot potential victims and provide them with support to create a better life before organised crime gangs get the chance to exploit them.

“Drugs can have a devastating effect on people’s lives, families, and whole communities.

"I am urging the public that if you notice anything suspicious, to please report it to the Police on 101, or 999 in an emergency.”

1CLIC project manager Detective sergeant Kevin Milby said: “The 1CLIC partnership allows us to get help to the people most in need and show them that support is there and that we can divert them away from the life they are in.

“The vulnerability visits and the amount of time we spend in the community and in people’s houses, has allowed us to support so many people and change what the county lines landscape looks like in South Cumbria.”

Tom Sharp, 1CLIC project lead with lived experience of substance abuse, said: “1CLIC has helped us to reach people who would previously been missed. This collaboration between Cumbria Police and the Well has proven its worth in gold by the sheer number of lives it has saved and changed for the better.

“The connections we have made through probation, food clubs and specialist support organisations, is helping us deliver a bespoke care model to every single person on our case load, no more ‘one size fits all’.”

One 1CLIC service user said they would be 'in prison or dead' without the project.