County Lines and Child Criminal Exploitation

Introduction
The practice of child criminal exploitation (CCE) in relation to County Lines (CL) is an increasingly
concerning phenomenon requiring urgent research to develop effective safeguarding practices. This
project aims to seek the voice and lived experience of the children involved in CL in the Blackpool area.
ii. Rationale

'County Lines' is a new and emerging model of illicit drug retail, which is thought to be on the rise in
the UK and in a "rapidly evolving" (Robinson et al. 2018, pg. 695) state. CL are a manifestation of a
retail business model of drug dealing which typically originate from metropolitan areas and supply
smaller towns and rural locations. These 'lines' of supply are typically established and controlled
through a dedicated mobile number used for orders and marketing. There are currently over 2000
individual deal-line numbers associated with approximately 1000 branded CL across the UK (NCA,
2020).