NORTH Yorkshire youngsters are being driven to drink and drugs because they are bored and disillusioned with rural life, a new report will reveal.

Shocking findings from the drug prevention charity Mentor UK show that growing numbers of youngsters in the county are using alcohol and narcotics - with some parents aware of what their children are doing.

The group, funded by the Department of Health, interviewed forty 16 to 18-year-olds from all income groups during an 18-month survey of four areas, including North Yorkshire.

Twelve participants were from the county, with teenagers questioned in both Malton and Selby. During interviews and through questionnaires, they told project officers that:

lThey had, or were aware of, people taking heroin, ecstasy and cannabis

lThat ecstasy was actually cheaper than alcohol on the streets

lThey used drink and drugs to escape boredom, their problems and the stress of exams

lActivities were available but transport links - which stopped in the evenings - meant they could not attend

lTheir parents often took them to public houses, and allowed them to stay when they left

Clare Isaacs, project manager at Mentor UK, said the survey results, due to be published in early July, were "quite depressing" and "scary".

"We did the project because little was known about rural areas. What we've found is that drugs like ecstasy and cannabis are seen as quite normal, but alcohol is the standout issue," she said.

"Parents don't think their children can get into any trouble in rural areas, and some even went to the pub with their parents.

"The crux is that young people said they didn't have much to do."

Ryedale MP John Greenway said the survey showed the district had the same problems as other areas, but was not being given adequate funding to find a way out.

"In addition to the Ryedale Detached Youth Project, which I set up, we have here in Ryedale a fantastic organisation which caters for youngsters and provides them with activities. But as ever, these organisations struggle for funding," said Mr Greenway.

"I was appalled to find out that The National Lottery's Community Fund deemed the Ryedale Child and Youth Project unworthy of funding because there wasn't enough deprivation in the area. I challenge the people who make these decisions to go to some of Ryedale's rural villages and they will see that there are families on very low incomes, battling with the issues of bringing up youngsters in a very isolated environment."

Selby MP John Grogan said: "The report highlights real problems among some young people who are using drugs and alcohol on a regular basis.

"In Selby, the council has just voted a vital £200,000 to improve facilities for young people in rural areas and we all hope this will help address the problem."

Alison Tubbs, of the York Alcohol Advisory Service, said the problems were not unique to rural areas, but said a lot of work was being done - particularly in York - to get to grips with the underlying trends behind young peoples' use of drink and drugs.

PC Stewart Ashton, Youth Action Officer for Ryedale, has set up a skate park and also a "dry bar", both in Norton, where young people can socialise and be steered away from alcohol and drug use.

He said: "It's a well-documented problem. Outreach youth workers do try to target more isolated villages, but it is difficult. It takes time, and the more isolated the community, the more difficult it is."

Saskia Syms, clerk to Burythorpe Parish Council, said: "There is nothing to do in the village. I think a youth worker does come out. I don't know whether village teenagers do drink or drugs, but I'm sure they are bored."

Updated: 10:35 Tuesday, May 11, 2004