SUFFOLK: Police are enlisting the creative services of streetwise youngsters to come up with a powerful tool in tackling illegal drug use in the county.

SUFFOLK: Police are enlisting the creative services of streetwise youngsters to come up with a powerful tool in tackling illegal drug use in the county.

Schoolchildren across Suffolk have been asked to design an effective logo to symbolise the force's drive to raise awareness about drugs.

The 'Project X' competition was launched this week at Suffolk Police headquarters, in Martlesham Heath, where teams of four or five children aged 11 to 18 devised logos and thought up slogans that can be immediately recognised as part of the countywide campaign.

Police experts and members of the Suffolk Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) invited the children back in a couple of weeks to each give a five minute presentation on their ideas to an audience and judging panel, who will then create a shortlist of finalists.

The project will culminate in a grand final on November 23 at the St Nicholas Centre, in Ipswich.

DCI John Perkins, leading the project for the police, said: “This is an incredibly exciting project we hope will give young people the opportunity to develop the messages they would like to see about tackling drugs, which in turn will help raise awareness of drugs within their peer group.”