Schoolchildren are meeting up to take drugs next to the river Dart in Totnes, despite teenager Nathan Wood having died there just 18 months ago, police have revealed.

The 16-year-old former King Edward VI Community College pupil was with friends near the Totnes weir when he took an illegal high, jumped in the river and drowned.

For the past 18 months police have been mounting education projects along with drug ­crackdowns to try to get the danger message across to young people surrounding those drugs once known as legal highs.

But in his report to town ­councillors, Sgt Tim Perrin revealed: “We are continuing to find school-­children sitting close to the river taking drugs where Nathan was found.”

Sgt Perrin, who leads the town’s neighbourhood policing team, said the police have been finding ­youngsters “highly under the influence” of drugs.

Nathan Wood’s death prompted the launch of the ongoing Operation Applerose, which saw the launch of community-led ­initiatives in local schools to try to convince youngsters of the dangers of the type of illegal highs that Nathan took before he drowned.

Police have also targeted the dealers, making a number of arrests and seizing quantities of drugs.

At a town council meeting, Sgt Perrin said drug-related offences in Totnes in January of this year were actually down on the same month’s figures for last year.

He pointed out that Operation Applerose had resulted in five homes in the town being raided by police armed with drugs warrants, resulting in a dozen people being dealt with through the courts or by other means.

He said four people are now being investigated for drug supply offences.

He also said police would be investigating complaints that drug dealers are going door to door in Bridgetown openly to ply their trade.

Cllr Jacqi Hodgson said parents in Bridgetown are becoming increasingly worried about what is becoming a “well-established ­pattern”, adding: “It does seem the feeling is that the drug problem’s growing quite rapidly at the moment.”

Sgt Perrin reported that a total of 51 crimes had been reported in Totnes last month – up by 75 per cent on the same month last year. He added, though, that January 2017 had seen a particularity low level of crime.

He revealed that violent crime figures were up 200 per cent; sexual offences had fallen from one last January to none last month; vehicle crime was up 30 per cent, from three to four; and criminal damage was up 237 per cent, from three to 10.

Meanwhile, domestic abuse offences had risen 48 per cent and reported hate crimes were up by 162 per cent.

Sgt Perrin said the rise in recorded crime is not just across Totnes, but across the South Hams and the Devon and Cornwall force area.

He said it is due to an increase in the ­confidence of people to reporting crimes to the police as well as the reporting of historic offences, which are recorded for the month in which they are reported.

“It’s not to say the town or the South Hams is getting dangerous,” he added.