A FAMILY are leaving town, claiming Chorley's drug culture is on a frightening spiral.

James and Rachel Corrie had already made the decision to leave Chorley for Leyland before discovering a pile of discarded syringes outside their home this week.

The appalled couple, who live on Cunliffe Street, fear for the safety of their children, one of which suffers from spina bifida and is wheelchair bound.

Mr Corrie, aged 36, a former door supervisor and motorcycle courier, claimed Chorley had become the number one drugs blackspot in the North West.

He found the needles in the road and down a nearby grid on Oxford Street as he was taking the children to school on Tuesday morning.

He rang the council, informed the police and alerted staff in neighbouring shops and businesses urging them to take care.

"The reason we are moving to Leyland is because of the drugs problem in Chorley," he said.

"The children can't play out and there's no community on the street any more.

"Chorley is on a downhill slope. We don't want the kids growing up in this community. There were about twelve needles there. I couldn't see any blood on them."

Mrs Corrie, aged 31, said her children, aged seven and nine, saw the needles.

"I've got to tell my children about drugs now," she said. "My husband saw them first on the road. When he came back and inspected it more clearly they were dumped down the drain, too.

"It's not a nice thing for the kids to wake up to in a morning. I was horrified, it's just disgusting.