Hungerford town councillors warned of 'nitrous oxide alleyway'

YOUTHS are congregating in a dark alleyway to abuse the drug nitrous oxide.

The warning was given at a monthly, full meeting of Hungerford Town Council on Monday (February 6).

Nitrous oxide is classified as a dissociative anaesthetic and produces a sense of floating, distorted perceptions and in rare cases, visual hallucinations.

It is used under controlled conditions in dentistry to relax patients.

It is legal to possess and its most common, proper use is as a propellant for whipped cream.

It is available in small metal cannisters and is abused by using a device known as a 'cracker' which allows users to fill a balloon and inhale the contents for a brief high.

Known as 'hippy crack,' its long term use can cause neurological damage and there have been fatalities when users have suffered hypoxia after inhaling it straight from a large tank.

Town councillor Jerry Keating told the meeting that a large amount of empty cannisters had been collected by the Smarten Up Hungerford team from the alleyway connecting Church Way and Prospect Road in Hungerford.

He said: "There's no lighting down there at all.

"It's quite scary to walk down there at night.

"Could we potentially look at installing some lights?"

Town mayor Helen Simpson said the town council would raise the issue with West Berkshire Council with a view to having lighting installed.

Nitrous oxide is not controlled under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016.

Under the act, possession for personal use is not an offence, but it is illegal to supply it for abuse by another or to possess it with intent to supply.