A number of ex-users have approached us about a recent series of adverts in the national and local press. Put out by HM Government at a cost of half a million quid, the adverts were for 'drugs counsellors' in the police, prison, probation and drug treatment services. Interested applicants were told to write to the Department of Health for a glossy information pack and expression of interest form. Only one problem. Nobody in government had asked any of these bodies whether they did have any vacancies for 'drugs counsellors'. When we rang round agencies in Greater Manchester, everyone told us the same story. They had no current vacancies, had not been informed of the recruitment campaign until after it had started and that any future vacancies would be advertised in the Guardian or the Manchester Evening News. Apart from showing that the people who dreamed it up were thick (why not ask if there were any jobs before planning a national and expensive advertising campaign), it also showed how little they know about either the police, prisons, probation and treatment services.

We can't help wondering why no one has sued them yet for placing such a misleading advert and wasting people's time. And what about the waste of public money. How many treatment slots could you buy for half a million quid? And, finally, what about the cruel joke they've played on all those hundreds of well meaning people who responded to their bogus campaign?

The words "piss up" and "breweries" spring to mind.