THE fight to crack down on drugs and crime in South and West Dorset has been given a £131,000 government cash boost.

Crime-busting partnerships in Weymouth and Portland are set to receive £61,100 and initiatives in West Dorset will get a £69,900 slice of £4.4 million of government funds for the South West to combat the problem of drugs and street crime.

The Communities Against Drugs (CAD) funding, which will total £70 million across the country, will be used to step up projects and services set up to stop illicit drugs markets, offer treatment and support for offenders and drive drug dealers out of the community.

Home Office minister John Denham said: "Class A drugs and crime are clearly linked.

"Tackling them both is the key to ending the cycle of drug dependency and criminal activity that ruins lives and wrecks communities and is a government priority.

"By helping the police and residents strengthen their local communities we are determined we can break links between drugs and crime and make our streets safer places."

The CAD funding is the second of a three-year allocation, announced last year, which will total £220 million across the country.

And the cash boost has been welcomed by Inspector Paul Gillott of Weymouth Police.

He said: "An injection of cash, especially for the rehabilitation of offenders, has got to be welcomed.

"Drug addicts can cause a major crimewave and for everyone who is rehabilitated then many victims are saved the trauma of being the victim of a crime."

Mr Denham said it was essential to get funding straight into areas most affected by drug-related crime.

He said: "We have been working closely with the ten forces covering the most serious robbery hotspots since March to develop further methods for tackling drug fuelled street crime."

Crime-busting partnerships will be able to decide how the funds will be spent but they are being urged by the government to tackle street crime with more high visibility policing in drug hot- spots and support neighbourhood and street warden initiatives as well as rehabilitation support for ex-offenders.

Funding could also be concentrated on community backed schemes including projects working on local intelligence gathering, recruiting additional criminal justice workers and youth workers and rehabilitation support for drug users.

And the cash will also be spent on supporting community, parents' and victim groups, dealing with anti-social behaviour associated with drug abuse, measures to tackle theft, robbery and burglary and improving street lighting and CCTV.