 THE shocking spread of cocaine abuse in Liverpool is revealed today. An ECHO investigation found evidence of the highly addictive class A drug being taken in some of the city's most high-profile buildings. Traces were found in toilet cubicles at Liverpool's historic town hall (one of four council buildings which tested positive), at a city centre shopping centre and several well-known pubs and bars. Experts say a line of cocaine can now be bought for the same price as a pint of bitter. Its cost and ready availability mean more people are using the drug and risking their lives than ever. Pubs and clubs are fighting back to stop the menace, warning that compulsory drug searches on entry to licensed premises will become more common in 2007. Many are also spraying flat surfaces with WD-40 to make it impossible to snort cocaine off them. To find out where cocaine had been taken, we used special swabs which turn blue when the drug is present. The swabs were wiped along areas where a user could potentially snort cocaine without being disturbed, such as toilet lids, toilet roll-holders and shelves. Premises which tested POSITIVE for the drug were: * A gents toilet in Liverpool town hall * A ground floor disabled/nappy changing toilet in Liverpool council's Millennium House building on Victoria Street * The council's municipal buildings on Dale Street, in another disabled toilet where babies' nappies are changed * The gents' toilet at the Cotton Exchange, Old Hall Street, home to Liverpool Coroners Court and Liverpool Register Office * A toilet at the Met Quarter shopping centre * Toilets at bars Newz Bar on Water Street, Anderson's on Exchange Street East, Blue at Albert Dock, JD Wetherspoon pubs The Welkin on Whitechapel and The Richard John Blackler on Great Charlotte Street * Toilets within the Trinity Mirror building on Old Hall Street. | 
News RSS Feed