Migraines affect one in 10 people

Could the everyday painkillers most of us use ever be bad for our health?

According to the Migraine Action Association, as many as one in 25 of us could be affected by medication overuse - a condition which leaves the sufferer with stronger headaches.

Real Story meets a woman weaning herself off a ten-a-day headache tablet addiction and a 14-year-old boy battling with a paracetamol habit.

Others get hooked after turning to over the counter drugs not to cure a headache but to relieve depression.

Jeanne Charley was taking 48 pills a day when she crashed her car, leaving behind a husband and a young daughter. Her husband Jason blames her addiction and says more should be done to protect people like Jeanne.

"She was a normal person who happened to become dependent on something that anyone can buy."

Tip-off blunder

Also in the programme, the story of a couple whose lives were ruined by helping the police.

In an attempt to protect his community from drugs, Ken Ralphs gave Greater Manchester Police the mobile phone number of a suspected dealer.

The information was passed on "in strictest confidence" but two years later - when the man was the alleged killer in a brutal gangland murder - Mr Ralph's identity was revealed. Police had mistakenly handed over his details in documents given to the suspect's defence lawyers.

Mr Ralph, who has changed his name, endured assaults in which his business was petrol bombed, CS gas was sprayed in his face and a knife held at his throat.

He and his partner moved home and were put under the witness protection scheme.

But, as he tells Fiona Bruce when she meets him at a secret location, they still live in fear.

War on litter

We also bring you an update on a Real Story from last year when we reported on new measures brought in by councils to fight litter louts.

We went to Leicester where litter wardens patrol the streets issuing spot fines for the latest infringement. At the time, only one in five councils were running such initiatives.

But a change in the law means that now most local authorities have litter warden schemes - and we discover how some councils are getting even tougher in a bid to clean up our towns and cities.

Real Story: BBC One, Monday 26 April 2004, 1930 BST and live on the Real Story website.