DRUGS Czar Keith Hellawell is to visit York as part of his drive to rid Britain of the growing health menace of litter left by addicts.

The city has been chosen to host a major conference because of the way North Yorkshire experts tackle the problem of dirty needles left lying in the street.

Stuart Henshaw, of Selby District Council's Environmental Health Department, will be one of the leading speakers alongside Mr Hellawell, discussing the problems of "drug litter" which can carry diseases like hepatitis.

The environmental charity Tidy Britain Group, which has organised the conference at the National Railway Museum next Monday, said York had been chosen as the venue because of the good work being done in its neighbouring town. Tidy Britain Group's Peter Gibson said Selby District Council was widely recognised as taking a proactive approach in reducing the risk from discarded syringes. "A lot of people imagine there would not be problem with syringes in a rural area like Selby," said Mr Gibson.

"But needles are now everywhere and the pioneering approach taken by Selby is to be congratulated.

"We hope to be able to use the conference to raise awareness of the problem and give people advice on what they should do if they find a needle.

"We will also be announcing the results of a major survey of all local authorities, which will reveal the extent of the problem and the number of people injured by the needles." Selby has tackled the problem of discarded needles by setting up a 24-hour helpline so contractors are always on hand to dispose of the syringes.

And it ensures its own staff and those from other agencies who work in areas where needles have been found are made aware of the danger.

The council has also worked with local schools to come up with a poster campaign to alert both children and adults to the dangers of touching the needles and the winning design is to be displayed on waste bins around the town and in schools.

Mr Henshaw said: "The problem of discarded needles is a constant one but is still on a relatively small scale.

"While we recognise that it's not the biggest drugs issue faced by a local authority it is a problem that we can do something about and make improvements for the local community."

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