Number of people with alcohol problems appears to be increasing in Lincolnshire

There appears to be a big rise in the number of people across Lincolnshire struggling with alcohol issues

It's one of the priorities for the new Recovery Partnership which is taking over support services in the county for anyone having problems with drink or drugs.

They're also concerned about the number of drug related deaths.

We spoke to Sarah Hancock Smith from the organisation.

She told us: "Since the pandemic alcohol is huge."

"Lots of people on furlough. losing structure and it was a very challenging time for everybody in the world really."

"That demand for alcohol has been steadily increasing."

For me the importance of these services is paramount

"We really want to make sure there's equity for the offer and treatment for anybody with any substance they're using."

"For those already at that stage through some of the things life throws at you - without us and without the support of a service such as the Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership then actually it could be really challenging for them - in terms of the impact on their health - crime in the local area ."

"For me the importance of these services is paramount".

"The thing for people who are using substances - it affects everybody in their lives - the individual in terms of their health, sometimes there's lot of cases of criminality that's associated with it."

"But actually the impact it has on loved ones is really really significant as well."

"Over the last ten years drug related deaths have been increasing and we're at a really interesting time at the moment - we're seeing new synthetic drugs coming in which are up to 50 or even 500 times stronger than heroin."

"Actually we are seeing spats of overdoses."

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