It is the ‘silent killer’ that is having a devastating impact on our communities.

That is how coroner Michael Singleton describes cocaine - a so-called party drug that has been responsible for the deaths of at least 17 young people in the Hyndburn area over the last nine months.

It is thought the real number is actually much higher.

Mr Singleton said that he felt compelled to speak out over the issue as he felt he could no longer sit back as the death toll rises.

He has now joined forces with the Observer to launch our Killer Cocaine: Stop the Deaths campaign in a bid to prevent more young people from dying.

In an exclusive interview with the Observer, Mr Singleton said: “It seems to be reaching epidemic proportions. It’s 17 and rising.

“Because they die separately, albeit in a relatively short period of time and a relatively narrow geographical area, these deaths are silent. They are silent because the bereaved families that are left behind grieve quietly behind closed doors.

“But I find that as coroner I can’t stay silent on this. I can’t just sit by and say ‘well all these young people are dying, so be it’. I want to highlight that there is a problem, and it seems to be an increasing problem. I want to stop it happening, and I want to stop families going through it. But you can’t deal with the problem unless you’re aware it exists.”

Mr Singleton said that he dealt with inquest involving the deaths of 17 people but that many more could have died from using the drug without their deaths being dealt with by the coroners court.

Mr Singleton, 66, said that most of the victims hailed from the Accrington, Oswaldtwistle, Great Harwood and Blackburn areas.

Adam Cowell

Last month, the Observer reported that Mr Singleton, who has served as a coroner for more than 23 years, raised his concerns of a deadly drugs epidemic taking place in Accrington at the inquest of 33-year-old Adam Cowell, from Oswaldtwistle , who died after taking the drug.

The coroner added: “The problem is cocaine is regarded as a party drug. This isn’t something you’re going to become physically addicted to, this isn’t something that’s necessarily going to destroy your lifestyle and your social contacts, this is something that can just kill you.

“Now you might say the chances of that are fairly remote, but 17 in a small area in a short period of time doesn’t persuade me that those are odds worth throwing everything away for.

“I suspect that those 17 did not for one minute believe that one possible outcome was their immediate death. The probability is that you will be fine, but it might be that you are the unlucky one and for you, it’s 40 minutes. Your heart stops.”

Mr Singleton added that he does not know what is causing the rising death toll - with the possibility it could be due to increased availability on the streets, or lower costs that are making cocaine the ‘drug of choice’.

But through handling a series of tragic inquests, he has seen the human cost of the drug at first hand.

He said: “Certainly there are, in my view, a significant number of young men and women who are dying as a consequence of cocaine.

“I see what’s left behind and it’s terrible. I see families in front of me that are absolutely devastated.

“My message to people is understand the consequences not only for you, it could be the end of your life, but understand the consequences for people who love you. Mum, dad, siblings, grandparents, because it will destroy their lives.”

Editor’s comment

Observer editor Gareth Tidman

Something feels strange about launching a campaign warning about the deadly consequences of taking cocaine in Accrington in 2017.

We all know about the economic challenges we face in our area which seems a world away from the yuppie party scene of the 1980s that many might associate with this drug.

Ask someone to imagine a drugs death and they conjure up images of a gaunt user with a needle hanging out of their arm in the corner of a squalid bedsit.

Yet the victims of cocaine use can look healthy, have good jobs and a loving network around them - right up until this ‘glamour’ drug claims their lives.

One of its particular cruelties is that in many cases families are denied the opportunity to intervene. There is often no physical deterioration, no developing pattern of petty crime and no engagement with drug agencies.

Instead death often comes out of the blue when users, who might just have been looking to pep up their Friday night or join in some ‘fun’ with their mates, suddenly collapse of heart failure.

Left behind are distraught families baffled at how they have found themselves in this position.

As the coroner pointed out, these are not people reaching out to drugs as a coping mechanism as their lives spiral out of control, but people with everything to live for.

There are so many things that we do not have the answers to, especially why is this happening here and why is it happening now, however the low price of the terrible drug and its increased availability might be one explanation.

What we do know is that a shocking number of young people have already lost their lives needlessly - and something has to be done to stop more people dying. What we can do to make a difference is a difficult question.

But something we can all do is keep an eye on our loved ones for signs of drug use, make sure they know all about the dangers of this evil drug and know where to get advice and support should they need it.

We can also keep an eye out for the dealers behind this trade in death - ‘the young men in flash cars’ as the coroner calls them - and help the police to put them behind bars.

Over the next few weeks the Observer will be calling on different sections of the community to work together to find solutions.

As I said it may seem strange to be talking about cocaine in Accrington in 2017, but this epidemic is deadly serious, and it is only by working together that we can hope to stop it and prevent more of our young people losing their lives.