Lost on the line, but now we hear their voices

A few years ago File on 4 producer Emma Forde made a documentary about County Lines, when the crime was little understood and only just starting to be reported by the media.

At the time, teenagers and professionals told her girls were also involved in running, and being exploited by, the cross-country heroin and cocaine sales lines.

But it’s taken time to find young women willing to speak. Largely it was about putting in precautions to keep them safe - we have kept them anonymous. But Danielle and Zoe, in the programme you can find here give voice to their experiences in honest and frightening detail.

And teenager Cara has allowed her mother to relate her terrifying experience being trafficked by a county line boss when she was just 14 years old.

What we learn from Danielle, Zoe and Cara is that girls aren’t spared any of the risks or the violence just because they’re female. But those involved in this dangerous world need support to escape and recover that’s different to boys. And that help is not widely available across the UK.