A seaside town once dubbed the "British Magaluf" has been overrun by drugs, with teens brazenly abusing substances in the street while county lines operations have targetted the area.
Cornwall is known for its beautiful beaches, winding country lanes, and a slower pace of life than the rest of the country - but for the fishing town of Newquay, its tranquil reputation is in tatters.
It has become known as one of the prettiest drug hotspots in the country, as gangs reportedly flood its shores with heroin, crack, cocaine and cannabis.
Devon and Cornwall Police seized 18.7kg of cocaine in the year to March 2022 – up from 16.2kg the year before - while ketamine seized rose from 0.3kg in 2021 to 1.8kg last year, Home Office figures show.
A teenager last week suffered a seizure in a Newquay nightclub during an event aimed at 16 and 17-year-olds, which police believe was "drug induced".
And as locals report seeing drug-taking in broad daylight, some fear it could drive away tourists and force down house prices - as "who's' going to buy a million pound flat when they have to drive through idiots p*****g in the streets?"
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Dave Farrow, 70, a surfboard shaper who runs Karma Surfboards, worked as a club doorman when the licensing laws changed to allow pubs to remain open into the early hours - and said he instantly saw a change in the town.
He said: "I was at the Red Lion most of the time, the landlord wouldn't let any of the fancy dress lot in.
"It was all coke sniffers and stuff like that really, which is something I used to struggle with - you get three blokes in the toilet up their knees in wee or whatever snorting coke off a toilet seat.
"I used to find it a mindset I wasn't familiar with really. I don't understand how people stay at home watching TV and take coke, what's the recreational bit there? I struggle with the whole mentality of it.
"I think society changed, probably when it all went to this all-day drinking.
"A lot of people wouldn't come out til 10pm time and by then they're either drunk or on something anyway.
"I think it all changed when we went to that 24-hour drinking, and the clubs were open til 4am - I don't think that did society any good.
"In the summertime, I suppose people are on holiday and that's all they're going to do, British society is a strange one - we have more of a drinking culture than anywhere else in Europe.
"If you go to the continent it's always families around the table - I think the drinking stag group culture is very English, I haven't come across it anywhere else."
In 2009, police and council chiefs joined forces to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, banning T-shirts with rude slogans, X-rated inflatables popular with hen and stag dos, and 'mankinis'.
But despite this, Dave insists Newquay is still a "party town".
He continued: "I'm sure if you went to Blackpool it would be there, and Torquay was quite notorious at some stage - I think this culture shifts around the country to whatever town is more accommodating at that time.
"A few years ago Torquay was sort of renowned but they changed their culture.
"The trouble with Newquay at the moment is it's not quite sure what its identity should be. They're trying for the million-pound flat culture at the moment, and that's not working - who's going to buy a million-pound flat when they have to drive through idiots p****g in the streets?
"I think property prices are coming down. I don't know what happens on that one - it's got this underlying culture that I don't think, while it's there, is going to attract the sort of people they want to attract."
Recently, Berties, a popular nightclub, came under fire after a young woman suffered what is understood to have been a drug-induced seizure during an event at the East Street venue, according to Cornwall Live.
Staff said they were helping Devon and Cornwall Police piece together what happened, after hundreds of 16 and 17-year-old young people attended the Newquay 16+ Drum and Bass rave at the nightclub on Saturday, April 29.
Both the police and Berties have only confirmed that one person was affected.
A spokesman for Berties said: "There is an investigation taking place. We are working with the police and licensing and are awaiting the results."
A spokeswoman for Devon and Cornwall Police said: "We were contacted by South West Ambulance Service Trust on Saturday, April 29, after a female had suffered a seizure in Newquay. Officers are currently looking into the circumstances around this incident."
A spokesman for the South Western Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) added: "We were called at 10.43pm on April 29 to an incident in the Newquay area.
"We sent a double-crewed land ambulance and two operations officers. We conveyed one patient by land ambulance to Treliske hospital in Truro."
But it's not just nightclubs that drug taking is confined to, with one local resident said they regularly witness substance abuse in broad daylight.
Daniel Evans, 27, an architect, said: "There's definitely a problem, some days it feels like you're in Amsterdam.
"You can smell cannabis being smoked in nearly every park, and the other day I saw a girl snorting a powder in the middle of the day - she and a friend were by Fistral [beach] and one held it up for the other.
"They laughed when they saw me, they had no shame. They were young too, about 18 I'd say. I'm not surprised about the county lines rumours, it has to come from somewhere - and there are so many people here looking to party that it must be a desirable target for dealers."
Police say they intend to change Newquay's reputation, and Devon and Cornwall Constabulary confirmed they would use "direct financial investment" to clean its streets.
Alison Hernandez, police and crime commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said: "These operations will continue with my full support, which includes direct financial investment, so our communities and the dealers who seek to exploit our most vulnerable citizens understand that this evil trade will not be tolerated here."
The County Lines problem appeared quickly in around 2017, but now the National Crime Agency estimates more than half of the areas targeted by big city county lines dealers are coastal areas like Newquay.
But Devon and Cornwall Police insist reports on Newquay's reputation are "inaccurate".
A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police said: "In recent years, Devon and Cornwall Police have undertaken a number of proactive policing operations looking to both disrupt supply chains and tackle the challenges that county lines gangs bring to our region.
"We work with forces from across the country and the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) to target drug-related offences in the county and safeguarded vulnerable people.
"Recent claims stating that Newquay has become a drug hotspot for the region is inaccurate.
"Proactive policing across the region and has naturally led to a rise in the amount of drugs seized from towns and cities across Devon and Cornwall, including but not limited to Newquay.
"This proactive work will continue into the future as we prioritise tackling groups that bring drugs into Devon and Cornwall."
The overall crime rate in Newquay in 2022 was 69 crimes per 1,000 people, which is 73 per cent higher than the county-wide average of 40 per 1,000 residents.
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