BOLTON'S drug users are being offered "free" samples of heroin by dealers determined to entice them into addiction.

Drug pushers are supplying first-time users with bags of the Class A drug -- worth between £5 and £10 -- in the hope of securing a regular and profitable trade.

The "free" offer means users are constantly in debt and find it almost impossible to break the vicious circle. Street dealers are amassing a bank of drug money owed to them by users enabling them to exert control over their customers.

Now a reformed heroin addict, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, has spoken out about the situation in a bid to warn others of the "free" drug trap.

The 35-year-old, now undergoing a drug and alcohol rehabilitation course, told the BEN: "When I was using heroin at first dealers used to give me a free sample, half a bag of heroin worth about £7.

"Then, after I took it, I would give them some money to buy some more and the dealer would give me back half. He would always have a half bag of heroin over me.

"This is the way it operated. If I bought £50 worth of heroin then I would get £25 back. It would just carry on like that for years and it is still how it operates today. "I enjoyed the heroin but after a month I became stuck. I had to buy it and could not cope without it.

"But it was not just me who was struggling. It affected my whole family. Everybody suffered. It is quite easy to fall into this trap and quite a lot of other people were doing it this way."

The drugs trap is believed to operate throughout Bolton.

The BEN's shock report on predatory drug dealers offering "free" samples to Bolton drug users comes on the same day as a teaching union revealed an alarming trend towards an increase in substance abuse in schools.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) highlighted a survey it has conducted, indicating that many schools can expect to deal with at least one case of pupils taking or dealing in drugs each year.

Only last month the Evening News also revealed that drugs gangs operating on Farnworth's Highfield estate are employing "runners" aged as young as 11 to ferry heroin door-to-door.

Supt Don Brown, of Bolton Police, said today: "Greater Manchester Police is constantly tackling drug related crime in the Bolton area and I would strongly advise anyone who has or is offered drugs, as both samples or purchases, to contact police officers at Bolton on 0161 856 5527."