The putrid smell of urine hits your nostrils as you approach New Wynd in Glasgow's Trongate and as frantic shoppers carry their bags along bustling Argyle Street, in the cobbled lane just a footstep away, two drug users scuttle away into the shadows.
The historical street, which houses Glasgow's oldest music hall The Britannia Panopticon, is on Glasgow's tourist trail but only those who dare will walk unaccompanied along its graffiti walled path after sunset.
Even in plain daylight, the ground lies scattered with the remnants of their latest hit, bags of crystallised white powder, drug paraphernalia and empty packets issued by local pharmacies, with plastic nib tops of syringes laying nearby.
There's also human faeces and urine-soaked walls where those with no dignity have given in to the urgency of addiction.
It's just one of the no-go areas in the city where locals have got all too used to 'junkies' shooting up, urinating and defecating just a stone's throw away from the busy commuter path.
