Haxby youths have strongly denied that their town is a hive of activity for drug dealing.

One 17-year-old lad told the Evening Press that drink was the problem in the area, not hard drugs.

Other 17-year-olds supported him when he added that he had never seen heroin or other drugs.

The teenagers, who declined to be named, were speaking after police revealed they had arrested two 17-year-olds on suspicion of supplying heroin, cannabis and amphetamines in the north York area.

They believed drug pushers were targeting gangs of teenagers and children as young as 11 and 12.

But the 17-year-olds who spoke to the Press denied there were gangs in Haxby and Wigginton.

They were part of a group of teenagers in the shops area of Haxby and all came from the town or the adjacent village of Wigginton.

The first 17-year-old said the police were always saying bad things about local teenagers and the latest statement was another example of this.

All three 17-year-olds in the group said they would say "No" if offered heroin and were against using the drug.

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