DRUG misuse in Aberystwyth is a “recurring theme” for police in the town, a chief inspector has said, despite a year on year fall in reported drug crimes of over a quarter.

Dyfed-Powys Police chief inspector Stephen Davies said that more needed to be done to tackle the issue in Aberystwyth, including support for those in need, when he addressed Aberystwyth town council members last Monday.

Mr Davies, who was joined at the meeting by Superintendent Robyn Mason, said that “work is ongoing” after a slew of arrests in the area following several targeted drugs raids aimed at dealers.

Latest police figures show that recorded drug crimes fell throughout Aberystwyth in the six months to April - the last figures available.

From November 2016 to April 2017, police in Aberystwyth dealt with 46 drug-related crimes.

For the same period the previous year, police recorded 68 such crimes.

Supt Mason told the meeting, however, that police were “moving away” from arresting on issues around drug misuse and antisocial behaviour as “arresting them solves nothing”.

The change of approach could be a reason behind the fall.

Supt Mason said: “In this age of austerity, there is no easy solution [to tackle the problem]. It is all dependent on funding and resources.”

One area of concern remains Plascrug Avenue, Mr Davies said, with a need to stamp out “drug misuse among young people” there.

“We have discussed extending the Public Space Protection Order to there, and that is something we will be recommending.”

Mr Davies said that “street dealing and rough sleeping” were interconnected, and that more help was needed for those caught up in illegal drugs.

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