TWO bored-looking teenagers share a cannabis joint as they walk past the statue of the football superstar known as 'the Wizard of the Dribble'.

Sir Stanley Matthews was an England legend and an inspiration to the working class who toiled in this city's booming factories in the 1940s and 50s.

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Locals in Stoke-on-Trent are struggling to find jobs

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Aimless youths in the city are turning to drugs and vandalism. Pictured, young yobs seen lobbing projectiles on to the A500 near Stoke-on-Trent

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Locals think the city has gone to 'rack and ruin'Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

But this corner of Stoke-on-Trent is now more famous for the despair of drug epidemics and youth unemployment rather than its world-renowned ceramics industry and footballers.

The Staffordshire city - which has been dubbed the 'laziest place in Britain' - is a blackspot of youth jobless with nearly a quarter of 16 to 17-year-olds not in employment, education or training – otherwise known as NEETs.

And despairing young people in the area tell The Sun they have practically given up on finding work, with some opting instead to "go on the sick" and blag benefits payments through bogus claims about their mental health.

Recent official grim figures have revealed that nearly a million young people aged 16-24 across the UK are NEETs.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said this is a “stain on our country”.

Residents in Stoke, where superstar singer Robbie Williams grew up, claim bored youngsters have turned to drugs, booze and cause anti-social behaviour.

There are fears young women have also turned to prostitution.

England winger Matthews’ statue overlooks crime-ridden Hanley, which has been plagued by junkies taking hits of mind-warping drug monkey dust.

The synthetic drug — also known as cannibal or zombie dust – makes users wildly hallucinate with terrifying visions of snakes and devils.

Stoke is the monkey dust capital of Britain with the city being in the grip of the drug for the last five years.

Unemployed bricklayer Harley Smith, 30, said: “I hear kids as young as 13 take dust.

“But there are also a lot of older teenagers taking it. They don’t have a job like a lot of young people here.

“Dealers target them but it’s an evil drug. I wouldn’t touch it. But it adds to the despair of people.

“This place is very rundown. A lot of people have lost hope.

“Taking monkey dust seems an escape but it can be pretty terrifying.”

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A statue of footballer Sir Stanley Matthews stands in the city centre, where drug users congregateCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

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Harley Smith claims kids as young as 13 are using synthetic drugsCredit: Andy Kelvin / Kelvin Media

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Monkey dust has ravaged the city and seen addicts lost to psychotic episodesCredit: Supplied

'Druggie kids'

Former soldier Alan Smith, 71, said: “This place has gone to rack and ruin.

“The council seem to sell off places where they could take homeless people off the street.

“It’s not a surprise so many young people have lost hope.

“There are not many jobs for young kids or jobs at all.

“You see bored kids getting into trouble, but it’s drugs rather than booze 'round here.

“It was all monkey dust but now a lot of them seem to be taking heroin and crack cocaine.”

How Stoke has become gripped by drugs

By Josh Saunders

CHEAPER than alcohol at as little as £2 a hit, monkey dust has ravished Stoke-on-Trent.

One person who knows its devastating effects all too well is former plumber Simon, who admits he lost his job and two-bed home due to the drug.

Now he sleeps in a tent and seen begging on the streets, he told Stoke-on-Trent Live: "I got into dust, monkey dust, lost everything and now I’m on the floor.

"I’m still taking dust. It’s all we do all day, rush around, try to get fed and try to get hold of dust, because it’s so addictive.

“They offer it to you. It’s homeless people, trying to make ends meet, dealing. People push it, they want to get you hooked, and then they exploit you.”

He calls for the drug to be reclassified to the highest grading Class A, but adds: "It should be Class A plus, plus, plus."

Another, Kevin Eagles, had racked up 121 criminal offences and was convicted of 37 by August 2022, some of which were due to his monkey dust addiction.

In one shocking photo, he was seen lobbing roof tiles at police while high on the illegal substance. It was one of several crimes that led to a two-year prison sentence.

Sex work hell

Jobless Callum Roberts, 54, who is on benefits, said: “You see a lot of young people taking drugs and some become homeless.

“It is shocking but I’ve seen younger women selling themselves – they look like they’ve got drug problems.

“I’ve seen them early in the morning in short skirts.”

Five years ago cops caught 270 sex workers and 200 kerb crawlers in just one clampdown.

Government figures revealed that at the end of 2023 and the beginning of last year, 22 per cent of 16 to 17-year-olds in Stoke were NEET.

One 16-year-old girl, who was visiting the local job centre with her grandmother, said she had never worked since leaving school – like all of her friends.

She told The Sun: “I have applied for loads of jobs since I left school but haven’t got anywhere.

“They always say I don’t have enough experience but how can I get any if I don’t get a job?

“It’s very frustrating. I have applied for jobs in supermarkets. All my friends don’t have jobs or have given up on college.

“I did start college on a childcare course but then gave it up. It wasn’t what I was expecting.

“I do want a job but everyone seems to be in the same boat.”

'Nothing here'

Also waiting for an appointment at the job centre was unemployed Karis Stonier, who has not had a full-time job for years.

The mum-of-one, 27, is on benefits – like her own mother who is on sickness payments.

She said: “I keep on putting in job applications either via the job centre or job websites.

“It can be pretty depressing as I am not getting far.

I’ll just go on the sick. I’ll do what my uncle did and say I’ve got mental health problems

Unnamed 17-year-old

“The only work I’ve had recently was working at a catering kiosk at Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium.”

Walking near League Two’s side Port Vale’s football stadium Vale Park, one teenager admitted most of his friends and family are on benefits.

The 17-year-old lad told The Sun: “My mum is on benefits and my uncle is on the sick.

“I don’t see the point of getting a job, they’re all s*** anyhow.

“I’ll just go on the sick. I’ll do what my uncle did and say I’ve got mental health problems."

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Former soldier Alan Smith says Stoke-on-Trent has 'gone to rack and ruin'Credit: Andy Kelvin / Kelvin Media

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Unemployed Karis Stonier has found it 'depressing' being unable to find a job for several yearsCredit: Andy Kelvin / Kelvin Media

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Fly-tipped items and rubbish abandoned near a sign calling to keep the area 'beautiful'Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

'Stain on our country'

Addressing the issue of 18 to 24-year-olds not working or studying, the Chancellor stressed there was a “crucial need to open opportunities for people”. 

She said: “We've got a million young people today who are not in education, employment or training.

“It is a stain on our country that we are allowing a million people at what should be the best time of their lives to get skills, to make friends, to build confidence, that they are sitting at home doing often nothing.”

Bored youngsters have been causing anti-social behaviour in different parts of the city.

On the Grange Estate in Cobridge, residents have complained of teenagers and young people blaring out music late at night.

Mum-of-two Sharon Beal, 45, said: “They turn up late in cars with music blaring.

It was all monkey dust but now a lot of them seem to be taking heroin and crack cocaine

Former soldier Alan Smith, 71

“They are a right nuisance. We just want the police and council to sort it.”

She added: “You also get teenagers drinking and smoking joints.

“They just seem bored and have nothing to do.”

Even more concernedly, teenagers have also turned to hard crime, with a number of youths busted as 'wannabe gangsters' over recent years.

Baby-faced teenage 'gang leader' Jayden Flynn was sentenced to four-and-a-half years detention in a young offenders' institution in 2021 after mugging a victim with a machete aged 16.

Teenage drug dealer Gavin Donohoe, then 16, was also jailed after he stabbed a man, injured a woman who tried to stop the attack and robbed a petrol station.

Meanwhile, Kailem Wade Whitehouse, then 18, was locked up after he slashed his friend's face 'to the bone' after forcing his way inside a house.

In December, Staffordshire Police revealed they had busted a drug dealer in an organised crime group that had a handgun and was selling crack cocaine, heroin and cocaine.

The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court to possession of a firearm, being concerned in the supply of cocaine, heroin and possession with intent to supply cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin.

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Gang leader Jayden Flynn was locked up after mugging a victim with a machete aged 16Credit: Staffordshire Police

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Teenage drug dealer Gavin Donohoe was jailed after he stabbed a manCredit: Staffordshire Police

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Kailem Wade Whitehouse was 18 when he slashed his friend's face 'to the bone' after forcing his way inside a houseCredit: South Wales Police

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A 17-year-old boy was caught by cops in December and pleaded guilty to possession of a handgun and possession with intent to supply cocaine, crack cocaine and heroinCredit: Staffordshire Police

'I hope everything’s gonna get better'

In 2018, Stoke City football club were relegated from the Premier League.

Fans had enjoyed star names like England strikers Peter Crouch and Michael Owen and the team even made it to the FA Cup final in 2011.

However, the team now hover just above the Championship relegation zone.

Staring up at the legendary 'Wizard of the Dribble' statue, Aaron Hill, 47, says: “We all remember the glory days but I just want to survive and then look forward.

"I hope everything’s gonna get better.”

Stoke-on-Trent City Council claims it has cut down on the number of NEETs in the city.

A council spokesperson said: "The percentage of young people in learning in Stoke-on-Trent is in line with the England average - both are currently (as of January 2025) 92 per cent.

“We have been very proactive in reducing the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training. We're committed to providing every young person in school years 11 and 12 an appropriate offer of education, employment or training.

“We are working with local education and employment providers to ensure all young people have the best opportunities when they transition into post-16 education."

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Locals tell The Sun that there aren't many job opportunitiesCredit: Andy Kelvin / Kelvin Media

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The council claims the city is on the right trackCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd