Children say fellow pupils take the drug in school toilets

Asked when her friends take it, she replied: "Break, lunch, if they skive a lesson they go in the loo ... when they can afford it."

Living rough

"Gary", who is a year older than Karen, has a �70-a-week habit after he was given free heroin for three or four weeks by a friend. But then his acquaintance asked for money.

"He started saying 'well, you can buy some now', and then I was in that spiral I suppose. I thought, 'well if it means getting some, I suppose I'll have to'."

Even children as young as 13 are using heroin

Heroin's in-roads into this Middle England community is tearing families apart. Denis's daughter discovered the drug when she was just 13, she left home and started living rough on the streets.

Denis says on the rare occasions he does see his daughters, she is like a stranger. "We're in a town, which you associate being sort of middle class, upper class, it's not an inner city area," he said.

"The problem is being introduced to kids to get them hooked. I've heard it's being given away as a sample, someone's planned this out, we're going to make a profit from children."