Concern was growing today over reports of an eight-year-old boy from Goole said to be Britain's youngest heroin addict.

The youngster, whose parents are both addicted to the drug, lives in the east Yorkshire town - where a greater proportion of people die because of heroin than anywhere else in the country.

Police said the town's drug problem spanned the "cradle to the grave", with babies that were born with a drug dependency through to pensioners hooked on prescription drugs.

Details of the eight-year-old's plight emerged after Goole's MP Ian Cawsey met local police chiefs. Mr Cawsey said: "It was at a meeting with police in my constituency when I first heard about this case.

"A senior policeman was telling me about the drug problems in the area and he said that one of the things concerning him was the number of children who were involved in heroin.

"A local GP then informed me that the youngest addict he was treating was a boy of eight.

"Naturally I was very shocked. I think everyone must be."

One policeman who has been working in Goole for 25 years said he had noticed the nature of drug use change over the years.

"Drugs are a real headache in this town. When I first started there was a bit of cannabis around but now drugs, especially heroin, are everywhere.

"I think the case involving the eight-year-old is probably isolated but we certainly get youngsters in their early teens in here who ask to see GPs because they have a drug dependency," he said.

The port town of Goole, which has a population of 18,000, has seen seven young people die of drugs overdoses in the last year. Mr Cawsey stressed efforts were being made to tackle the problem.

"There are positive steps being taken. The East Yorkshire Drug Action Team does a lot of good work, but inevitably, as with everything, funding is an issue."

Home Office Minister Mike O'Brien said the story of the eight-year-old's addiction "graphically illustrated the tragedy of drug abuse".

Writing in a Sunday newspaper, he said: "The Labour Government will be tough on drug traffickers and tackle the causes of addiction. Social services are monitoring families with a history of drug abuse. Children at serious risk can be taken into care."

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