DRUG abuse, rife in the Cotswolds and the Vale of Evesham, has claimed another young life.

On Monday the funeral took place of 24-year-old Tom Ronchard from Willersey, who was found unconscious in his aunt's home in Badsey Road, Willersey, earlier this month. Tom's inquest is yet to take place but his family are 99% certain that his death was caused by heroin.

Tom's is the latest in a long line of local youngsters whose deaths have been linked to drugs.

Just before last Christmas, 16-year-old Jamer Tustin, from Evesham, was found dead in his bedsit and, about 13 months ago, Ben Beetson, Tom's Chipping Campden schoolfriend, died of a drugs overdose in Nottingham.

Now Tom's stepfather, Phil Halling, has spoken of his son's addiction and the family's torment in an effort to shock addicts and alert parents.

Tom had a loving mother, Wendy, four half brothers and a half-sister, Simon, Andy, Chris, David and Penny and his father, Francoise, came from France to live in England especially to be near him.

Mr Halling said: "If we save just one person then Tom's short life has not been in vain." Tom was staying in his aunt Sue Hardy's house at the time of his death, following a difference of opinion with his parents over his addiction. At about 7.30pm on October 9 Mrs Hardy heard a thud in the bathroom and raced upstairs to discover her nephew had collapsed behind the locked door.

She rang his parents, who lived nearby, and together they broke in and did everything they could in a vain bid to save Tom.

"We tried mouth to mouth and artificial respiration until the paramedics arrived but it was no good," Mr Halling said.

"We feared this would happen one day but thought there was a long way to go before he reached that stage.

"Tom's death was a terrible shock which we will never get over. He tried hard to kick the habit but help was very inadequate and we were unable to find anyone we could talk to."

Mr Halling believes his son, and his friend, Ben, started taking cannabis when they were 14.

He said: "Everyone knows it's easy to get but how can you monitor your children 24 hours a day?

"Tom changed over the years from a happy-go-lucky, kind generous lad, who loved his brothers and sister, to someone with a split personality, who thieved and was untrustworthy.

"We realised we had lost our Tom - as we knew him - about two years ago but, a fortnight ago, we lost his body and any hope of getting him back.

"We have here nothing short of a epidemic. People in the Cotswolds and the Vale read and hear about drug abuse but they think it all goes on in Birmingham or Redditch - never in the countryside.

"Drug addiction can wreck any family, be they working or middle class, so I am appealing to parents to beware.

"Look for the signs, unusual behaviour, pale skin, sunken eyes, listlessness and get help."

Denny Beetson, Ben's mother, agreed with Mr Halling and said: "It is not something that's going to go away. It is on our doorsteps. I want to do everything I possibly can to help. There's a huge, huge need for education at primary school level."

She has already given talks to pupils at Chipping Campden School about her experiences.

Headteacher Jeff Price, who reinforced the message with a talk to sixth formers after Tom's death, said the problem was a "universal" one. "What I despair of is that some parents bury their heads in the sand and say it can't happen here. There is a lot of naivety."

Superintendent Adrian Grimmitt, of the Cotswolds and Stroud police division, said the area's drug problems were not particularly acute but added: "The police are committed to clamping down on all types of illegal drugs."

The collection for Tom's funeral is going to the St Saviour's Addiction Centre.