A WORCESTER estate is awash with heroin and children as young as five are queuing to buy it, according to two concerned mothers.

They claim members of one Dines Green house are regularly spotted "brazenly" offering wraps of the drug in their front garden.

They are exasperated at unsuccessful police raids and want the council to run the occupants off the estate.

They say they fear being identified in case dealers carry out threats to harm their children.

One, aged 35, claims the house has dozens of visits from men and the young children, which begin as early as 7.30am and can continue until 1am.

She said customers - many from across the city - openly discuss the amount and price of heroin they are going to buy.

"They don't care who sees them doing it because they know nothing can be done."

A mother-of-two - who said she had frequently seen wraps of heroin being exchanged with young children - keeps a baseball bat by her door and demands the identity of callers, after gang members threatened to "mash" her children's faces.

The 31-year-old said complaints by scores of neighbours appeared to have produced nothing.

"The council tells us they can't do anything until the police have caught them.

"With the amount of raids, how can they not have caught them? Every time we see a white van there we think 'Great, they've been caught'. But it's just another dealer.

"We keep being told how rosy everything is in Dines Green. But they're papering over the cracks. I'm not saying the police or community leaders aren't concerned. But they can walk away from it, we can't."

Ward councillor Ray Turner said he had "total sympathy" for parents and children affected.

But he warned the community had to be led by the police, and the council would only be in a position to act following a criminal conviction.

"We're well aware of the problem of drugs all over the city, not just in Dines Green, because I don't think that area can be singled out," he said.

"As a councillor, the only thing I can do is let the police know and make the city council officers aware of the situation."

Det Sgt John Wilks, of Worcester police, said targeting suppliers was a priority for every force.

"One of the key tools in the effort is information and the public plays a key role in how effective we can be," he said. "I'd appeal to the community to tell us any information they may have."

Anyone with information should call 01905 723888 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

"Whatever number you call, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you've helped take those who deal in illegal drugs off our streets," he added.