Crack cocaine is a growing problem in Plymouth

Linda Gilroy is to ask newly-appointed Home Office minister Caroline Flint for more support in the fight against crack cocaine.

The MP for Plymouth Sutton says she wants to highlight the growing problem of the highly addictive drug in the city.

Last September, police revealed there had been a five-fold increase in the number of cases involving the drug in Devon and Cornwall over the previous two years.

Violent crime

Ms Gilroy believes crack users have a stronger link to crime, especially violent crime.

Ms Gilroy says more should be done to help ex-offenders returning to Plymouth, who fall back into drugs because other services fail them.

She says that a crack addict needs up to �20,000 a year to feed their habit.