Two groups have officially joined forces in their campaign to remove “legal high” shops from the streets of Angus.
Thousands of parents and healthcare professionals have registered their concerns over shops selling new psychoactive substances (NPS) in Arbroath and Montrose.
Both towns have shops that sell chemical powders and have operated separate pressure groups advocating their closure.
They will now meet as one team and have called on the police and the Scottish Government to focus on the issue.
Lyn Torrance of the Montrose group told The Courier “the louder the voice, the better we are heard”.
“This problem with legal highs is increasing and the merging of the two groups is needed jointly we can do more,” she said.
“We are determined to do what we can to stop this stuff being sold on our streets, and to raise awareness of the harm it can do.”
Formerly known as Declaration, the Arbroath shop shut down in May after public pressure.
Its sister shop in Montrose, The High Life, also closed its doors at the end of May but both are now open again and trading under the brand name Evapeolution.
Campaigner Derek Wann said: “We are still extremely disappointed that both the shops are still believed to be selling new psychoactive substances, or so-called legal highs, after informing us all in the press that they were closing down the sales of these substances.”
“As a collective we have decided to continue fighting to rid our streets of these products and at the same time push for legislation to be brought in to prohibit the sale of them.
“We will continue to work with the drug abuse services in the hope that education can be at the forefront of our campaign, in an attempt to keep youths and adults away from these substances.
“We have made contact with the local police to notify them that we will continue to press for a solution and to see if they can update us on their activity we await a response.”
The announcement follows the launch of a panel, which will tackle the issue in Holyrood. They will review powers to crack down on NPS, which have been implicated in dozens of deaths in Scotland in recent years.
Conservative MSP for north-east Scotland Alex Johnstone welcomed the expert group’s establishment.
However he said a UK-wide approach alone would see “highly dangerous” products off the streets for good.