There are more than a million regular cocaine users in the UK, according to new research.

There are more than a million regular cocaine users in the UK, according to new research.

A report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime revealed yesterday that the UK was Europe's largest cocaine market - with more than one million regular users.

And the report revealed the quality of the Class A drug has declined dramatically in recent years - with a marked rise in traffickers cutting it.

A crackdown on traffickers has pushed prices up and led to dealers cutting cocaine with an even wider mixture of drugs and other ingredients.

Some seizures by police revealed substances being passed off as cocaine that were only 5% pure.

The UN found dealers diluting their product with cutting agents such as dental and veterinary anaesthetics that mimic the effects of cocaine but are much cheaper.

There are an estimated 860,000 cocaine users in England and Wales and around 140,000 in Northern Ireland and Scotland combined.

The World Drug Report 2009 revealed that cocaine use increased dramatically in the UK from the mid-90s, but remained stable over the last two years.

Data given to the UN by the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) shows wholesale prices have risen to record levels.

The cost of a kilogram of cocaine has increased by 50% from £30,000 to £45,000 since 2007.

Scotland has seen significant increases in the recreational use of cocaine.

In 2007-08 the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) seized more than 220kg of Class A drugs with a street value of £15.8m - an almost three-fold increase on seizures during 2006-07.

In 2007 there were 455 drug-related deaths in Scotland.

In a study published earlier this month, one in five Glasgow schoolchildren, some as young as 12, admitted taking drugs. In the 15 and 16-year-old age group, 30% admitted using drugs including ecstasy, cocaine and cannabis.

Speaking on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, detective superintendent Willie MacColl, national drugs co-ordinator at the SCDEA, said: "Scotland is a small country on the north-west edge of Europe. However, as this report shows we are part of a global cocaine story. The drugs that end up in our back streets have made it here from routes that straddle the continents, predominantly from South America in the case of cocaine. This commodity brings with it a trail of economic, social and political destruction - a continuum of harm - that scars our planet and its people.

"We need global, cross-border co-operation to gain and share intelligence about the threats we face, and then joined-up action to intercept those who profit from that harm as close to the source of their operations as possible."

He added: "One of the greatest myths remains the misguided view that cocaine is in some way a clean' drug. Unscrupulous dealers are greedy and intent on making money by preying on vulnerable groups in our society.

"The use of adulterants in cocaine is commonplace. These adulterants may be inert substances or themselves active chemicals including, at times, other illicit drugs. However, what is bought on the streets is unlikely ever to be pure."

Cocaine is shipped to the UK via the Caribbean or the west coast of Africa.

The report states: "The UK thus continues to be, in absolute numbers, Europe's largest cocaine market, with its second-highest cocaine use prevalence rate."

The report revealed a concentration of "problem drug users" in the capital, with around a quarter of all problem users in the UK living in London - a total of 74,000 people.

That means around one person in 100 in the capital has a drug problem.

The report also details the supply routes that bring drugs to the UK.

Heroin comes from Afghanistan on land routes through the Middle East to Europe before it is repackaged and smuggled in to Britain.

Martin Barnes, chief executive of Drugscope, said: "Following a sharp rise in the late 1990s, reported levels of cocaine use have remained relatively stable in the UK.

"However, the cocaine market has developed during this period as prices have continued to fall and the availability of the drug increased. This reflects similar trends across Europe.

"The purity of cocaine has been falling for some time, with dealers increasingly using cutting agents, such as benzocaine and phenacetin, which more closely mimic the physical sensations associated with cocaine.

"By using such chemicals, it is easier to pass off the drug as being much purer than it is."