Westhoughton residents packed into a meeting organised by two Westhoughton mums whose children were pricked by discarded junkies' needles.

Around 100 concerned people turned up at Greenfields Private Members Club last night to support a their crusade to rid the town of drugs.

The mums Rachel Green and Tracy Sutton said their sons Alex and Braden, both now aged six, were pricked by dirty needles while playing near their home in Hollin Acre.

They now have to wait up to six years before they will know if their sons are cleared of HIV and Aids.

In an often heated and emotional debate, the mums outlined plans to clean up the town and said they wanted to meet the prime minister to put their story to him personally.

Among their proposals is a bid to make dropping needles a criminal offence. They are also applying for grants to set up a drug watch scheme for residents to shop on drug users and dealers.

Tracy said: "It's a little bit late to affect us, our children have already been affected by this dirty habit but if we stop it for other children it will have been worthwhile."

It was revealed at the meeting that a van from which it was believed drugs were sold had been torched.

And a group of residents have demanded the closure of a play area off The Hoskers, near Eatock Lodge, where needles have been found.

Grandfather of Alex, David Goddard, said: "It's one of the most evil things.

"The answer is to hound the drug dealers out of Westhoughton, and out of Bolton and keep on hounding them."

Anyone with information on illegal drugs should ring crime stoppers on 0800 555111.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.