Ketamine use in Merseyside has “become so bad that young children end up with colostomy bags”, a Merseyside drug and alcohol support worker has warned.

Kelly Smith, from the Change, Grow, Live (CGL) recovery service in Kirkby, said drug use was “a massive and increasingly common problem”.

She said the service, which covers Knowsley, was aware of young people using ketamine who “didn’t understand what it was” and were becoming addicted to it.

Speaking at the launch of an art project for recovering addicts, she said: “It’s so bad that young children end up with colostomy bags and things like that because it causes serious bladder problems.”

Ms Smith added: “I think for a young person, they’re not necessarily aware of the lifelong impact that drug use can have on a person.”

Ketamine is a drug used by doctors and veterinarians for pain control.

The latest government figures estimates that drug use in England and Wales has doubled since 2016.

In the under-25 age group, its use tripled over the same period, the government said.

Chronic use of ketamine damages the lining of the bladder and can shrink it.

Kelly Smith was speaking at the opening of the We Got Heart (WGH) exhibition at a facility on St Chad’s Parade in the city centre.

The art project, which aims to divert people away from substance use and towards support services, is being run by Merseyside Police and CGL Knowsley, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

One of the artists exhibiting is Amanda Murphy who said she started using alcohol as a “crutch” after a difficult time in her life.

She was referred to CGL after developing liver disease and is now recovering.

“I was nervous when I first walked in, but they soon surrounded me and showed me love, as they say,” she said.

Inspector Alan McKeon, from Merseyside Police’s Prevention Centre, said the project “really demonstrates the value of prevention and tackling the root causes of problems, not the symptoms”.