This highly personal series investigates how criminal networks systematically exploit vulnerable young people, transforming them from ordinary schoolchildren into drug dealers through manipulation, violence, and trauma. An estimated 50,000 children in Britain have been groomed into county lines drug trafficking, yet their stories remain largely hidden.

Phoebe McIndoe is both journalist and sister to someone caught in county lines and, in this final episode, she widens the lens to understand how austerity and social breakdown created fertile ground for county lines to flourish. From youth club closures to a crumbling care system, she considers how the loss of community safety nets left children vulnerable to exploitation.

Through conversations with activists and those leading innovative solutions, she asks what must change to break this cycle of exploitation and rebuild the protective networks our children need.

First broadcast 9th December 2024, BBC Radio 4
Presented by Phoebe McIndoe
Produced by Phoebe McIndoe and Redzi Bernard
With original music by Phoebe McIndoe

County Lines: Hope 3/3

We make documentaries and audio art for radio, podcasts and public spaces.

At the heart of what we do is a belief in the imaginative possibilities of radio. Sounds that can reconfigure the world around you, move you through inner landscapes, sink into your dreams.

We are an intentionally small company that considers carefully the creative, social and political aspects of the work we put out into the world.

Falling Tree has two full-time Directors – Eleanor McDowall and Alan Hall – and we work with freelancers across our projects, including the core Short Cuts production team of Alia Cassam, Axel Kacoutié and Andrea Rangecroft.

We are one of the founding signatories of the Equality in Audio pact. 

You can listen to hundreds of our documentaries in the free, online Falling Tree archive.

County Lines: Hope 3/3

Falling Tree Productions