Town centre bar owner in heroin overdose rescue

Bar 5

Jayne Warcaba, proprietor of Bar 5, came to the rescue of a drug addict in Rochdale Town Centre last weekend. Ms Warcaba was approached by a customer who asked her to phone an ambulance for a man who was suspected of having taken a heroin overdose in the toilets located on South Parade, in close proximity to Bar 5.

Whilst waiting for the ambulance to arrive, Ms Warcaba placed the man in the recovery position and talked to his friend, who explained the man had taken heroin, and admitted he himself had taken drugs, though he stressed not heroin.

Talking to Rochdale Online, Ms Warcaba said: “Drug users frequent the toilet and it causes a real problem for us. I had little choice but to help the man in difficulty but I wish the council would do something to sort the problem.

"We frequently find used needles around the toilet. We have had four drug related incidents in the past two weeks, including a pregnant woman taking drugs in the toilet.”

A spokesman for Rochdale Borough Council Environmental Services said: “We are aware of the problem, and there are other problem areas in town, such as the Hunters Lane/Reed Hill and on the outskirts of town Richard Street close to the railway station; we recently collected a wheelie bin full of needles from there. All we can do is clean up the mess, and if we see users taking drugs we report it to the police.”