CHILDREN as young as 13 have been arrested for dealing drugs on the streets of Warrington.

The Warrington Midweek can exclusively reveal the statistic after Cheshire Police released its arrest figures following a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

In the past 12 months, four youngsters have been arrested in connection with drug dealing offences.

The first was on May 6, 2005, when a 13-year-old was arrested for two counts of alleged drug dealing. The youngster was given police bail and received a summons to appear at court.

On June 13, 2005, a 13-year-old was arrested and also given police bail after receiving a summons to appear at court.

A 16-year-old was arrested on July 14, but was not charged.

On September 7, 2005, a 15-year-old was arrested but was released without charge.

A 16-year-old was arrested on September 10, 2005, and was given a final warning by officers.

But police cannot provide the details of whether the arrests resulted in successful prosecutions because that is held on the police national computer.

There are around 47,000 children and young people in the borough of Warrington making up 25 per cent of the population.

One of the aims of Warrington Borough Council's Children's and Young People's plan 2006-2009 is to ensure that children living in the town choose not to take drugs. The council says it aims to do this by improving referrals and access to substance misuse services.

Few figures are available to gauge the picture nationwide, although in Scotland there were 70 arrests for drug dealing in the past year.