Heroin addicts are to be tempted to make a clean start away from Drugs - with free £40 haircuts.

Top salon stylists will be drafted in as part of a £100,000 scheme designed to boost drug users' self-esteem and give them the will to break from the drugs culture.

They will also be offered classes in subjects such as music technology, art photography and basic literacy - and the use of a purpose-built gym.

The Bradford-based Bridge Project, which offers help and advice to more than 400 drug users a week, is setting up the programme based on the theory that addicts are reluctant to ditch drugs because they fear they will have nothing to fill the void.

Bridge Project service manager Debbie Allen said: "Heroin addicts fear that if they stop using the drug they will be bored senseless. The classes will help show them that there is more to life and hopefully they should provide a springboard into other forms of further education."

She stressed that the courses will be offered on a flexible roll on, roll off basis as experience has shown heroin addicts can be put off if they need to keep appointments.

As part of the scheme students will be given the chance to use a gym which is being built in the cellars of the Bridge Project's new base in Salem Street in the city centre.

And top hair stylists from Leeds have agreed to give students free £40 hair cuts to give them a confidence boost.

Bradford Training and Enterprise Council and Bradford Health Authority have joined forces to plough £100,000 into the initiative.

Drugs worker Philippa Troutman, who will help run the project, added: "We aim to provide a very stimulating environment, this will not be a day centre.

"A lot of the people we see at the Bridge Project have skills, but they have lost sight of those skills due to their addiction and lack the motivation to change their lives. We have had already had a lot of enthusiasm for the project from the drug users and we think the new initiative will be very positive for Bradford."

Bradford Training and Enterprise Council chief executive David Wilkinson said the initiative has been supported partly because drug abuse is the major cause of city-centre crime.

"We recognised in discussions with our partners the need for this initiative which fits in with our broad objectives of helping people to qualify for the jobs which are available.

"It will give drug users an opportunity to combine some useful activity in an environment where they can get help to beat their addiction."

PC Lewis McKensie, who was heavily involved in the project at its planning stage, said: "The initiative will give heroin addicts the chance to get back into mainstream society, make them employable and give them a chance to gain real jobs."

Dr Julian Roberts, consultant in public health medicine, said the aim of the project was to enable addicts to break the cycle of drug misuse.

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