HOME Secretary Theresa May has paid a visit to the Bradford district, where she praised the work of a drug and alcohol charity.

Mrs May came to Project 6's bases in Temple Street and Russell Street, Keighley, and said she was highly impressed by the group's work.

She and Conservative parliamentary candidate for Keighley, Kris Hopkins, were given a tour of the organisation's premises, which between them see about 4,000 service users each year.

They met some of the people who are being helped by Project 6, and asked about the charity's experience of the so-called "legal highs" problem.

Mrs May was told that these substances are now often being mixed with illegal drugs, and are also used by people going through the criminal justice system who know they won't be tested for legal highs.

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Commenting at the end of her visit, she said. "Kris was keen that I come and see this, because he said that it's a very important part of the community.

"They are very open to people here, and they don't just run on a timetable.

"People can drop in and there will be someone around who they can sit down with and talk to. They offer consistent support for people who need it.

"This is a very good model. I do visit many of these types of services across the country to try and learn what works."

She expressed her backing for Project 6's emphasis on long-term help for recovering alcoholics or drug users, emphasising the necessity of equipping such people with good qualifications and jobs.

She added: "As a Government the drugs strategy we introduced was more about looking for those longer-term solutions, rather than trying to turn people around using a fast programme only for them to return to the lifestyle that got them into drug abuse in the first place."

Responding to the visit, Project 6 director of development Lynn Lawson said: "It was great to have an opportunity to showcase our work and to talk about issues surrounding the integration of health and social care.

"We have a 90 per cent abstinence rate for people who go through our structured recovery programme.

"We're hoping that the Home Secretary took away with her the fact that recovery can take five to seven years. Just funding programmes that stop after 12 weeks is not adequate, because it's what happens to people after that period that is important.

"Substance abuse is a condition where people often relapse – that needs to be recognised."

Director of operations Vicki Beere said she was encouraged by the visit, and felt that Mrs May would have found it memorable.

"We always believe that our service users can get better," she said. "It doesn't matter if it's the first or the twenty-first time that someone has come through our door. We give them the time, space and the tools they need to get better."