RAVERS who pack a Blackburn nightclub are being urged to have a drug-free New Year.

Peppermint Place is one of 30 dance venues throughout the UK to take part in the anti-drugs campaign following the death of Essex teenager Leah Betts from just one Ecstasy tablet.

Specially-produced posters with the messages "Get A Life - Don't Lose It Through Drugs" and "Get Real - No To Drugs" will be put up at Peppermint Place and all other clubs belonging to the First Leisure Corporation.

Peppermint Place general manager Keith Lamb said: "The death of Leah Betts showed that even if you get drugs that have not been doctored you are still messing with your life and that is the message we are trying to get across. "We are very vigilant on the use of drugs and we do random searches.

"Because of that we know that people will sometimes take drugs before they come to us."

But he added: "Not all disco users are drunken lager louts who take drugs. Ninety-nine per cent of our customers are just out for a good time.

The First Leisure campaign comes hot on the heels of a hard-hitting national poster campaign showing Leah Betts with the slogan "Sorted".

These posters, referring to the slang for possessing Ecstasy tablets, have been put up in East Lancashire in an attempt to convince youngsters of the dangers of the drug which has become a common feature of the dance scene.

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