THE use of dangerous so-called ‘legal highs’ will not be tolerated in Swindon.

That is the warning from South Swindon MP Robert Buckland.

He said he is supporting a crackdown on the problem, which has resulted in health problems in the town.

The Adver revealed last week that Swindon is one of the worst areas in the UK for the misuse of the substances.

A ban on mephedrone and related chemicals in 2010 only resulted in producers renaming and altering them, our investigation found.

Mr Buckland is backing a police campaign to use new legislation against the trade – including the use of temporary banning orders.

After viewing evidence collected by the Adver, Mr Buckland said: “These people are quite cunning. If a legal high is banned, they change an element of it and suddenly it’s legal again.

“The problem with the old system was it would take a long time for the drugs to be banned. The process could take up to nine months, which was clearly too long.”

Temporary banning orders, introduced last year, can be applied to any substance deemed potentially harmful. An advisory council then provides detailed advice to allow the Government to make a final decision.

Mr Buckland, who is also a barrister specialising in criminal law and planning, said: “The target has to be the suppliers. Without them a lot of the users wouldn’t have the knowledge or the information they need to vary their drug use.”

Substances being taken in Swindon include some which are legal and others categorised as Class B.

The usage has led to a surge in admissions at Great Western Hospital, while anecdotal evidence suggests some users who switched from hard drugs have died.

Mr Buckland said: “On the ground we do all we can to reinforce the message that legal does not mean safe and also very often these so-called legal drugs are mixed in with illegal drugs.

“The message for drugs users is you don’t know what you’re taking and you are going into completely unknown territory. You are risking injury to yourself and to other people.

“The police are working hard to combat it. Everything that can be done to combat it and get these bans in place will be done.”

The Adver ordered legal highs from a website called Wide Mouth Frogs, including one which turned out to contain a Class B substance after being analysed by a laboratory. Policing the internet has proved difficult in the past, especially with websites registered abroad.

Mr Buckland rejected the argument it was hopeless to pursue bans on legal highs because users would just turn to other substances.

He said: “We are not just talking about issues of criminality, but also issues of public health and safety and they are too important to just accept defeat.”