I AM writing to you in regards to your recent articles about the vice girls of Swindon.

The reason I'm writing is because last year I was one of those girls who felt I had to work' on Manchester Road to feed an overwhelming heroin and crack addiction.

I am also the girl that you reported about who was held at knifepoint and attacked last August.

Luckily, after the attack I had loads of support from the people around me and even, to my surprise, the police and I am now settled on a methadone prescription. So since the attack I haven't been working as a prostitute.

I know how hard it is when you're stuck in an addiction like most of these girls are and it made me so angry to hear some people calling them scum.

I know it must seem horrible to the residents that live near Manchester Road, but it's a bit harsh to call them scum.

I just urge anyone who has that idea of these poor girls next time to take a step back and think about it, these girls all started out as normal people, they could be your daughter, niece, sister or even, wife.

That's the truth because believe me that evil drug heroin is so rife in Swindon anyone could be drawn into it, it doesn't take much.

I think the girls do need to stay safe out there because it is a dangerous place.

I was attacked once before the attack that ended my time as a prostitute in August.

But what can the girls do? The only thing they can do to stay safe is to stop altogether but I know how hard that is and if I hadn't gone through what I did and I didn't have the support I did then I would still be out there along with the other girls.

I would say to any girl whether they are a working girl' or not, if you are raped or sexually assaulted don't worry about telling the police because they are very understanding.

I would urge anyone who has been a victim to please let someone know! Those people who hurt and abuse others need to be punished.

I know it's hard coming forward especially if you are a prostitute, but from my experience the police who dealt with me did not judge me, in fact they were extremely understanding.

I feel a lot more at ease knowing that the person who attacked me is behind bars and that's thanks to the police.

One thing I would say is the working girls do need to stay safe and by that they should try and let someone know where they are and take down as many details as they can, like a registration number.

But the best thing would be if they could get help like a methadone programme, but sometimes that can take a while before you get one and it can be off-putting.

I think the Government needs to address the growing heroin problem in the UK by helping all the addicts to get on methadone programmes and not have such long waiting lists.

I had to wait three months to get my methadone script and that's quite quick compared to others who have had to wait up to six months.

I also think that the Government should look at longer sentences for rapists as the person who attacked me, although you reported that he got a life sentence, he actually got about four years and he'll probably be free in two years, but he does have to sign the sex register for life.

But to me that doesn't seem fair, I'll have to live with the nightmares and fear of what he did for life, so he should have to stay in prison for life.

Anyway I hope you can print at least a small portion of this to highlight some of the things I want people to know.

I would like to thank the Adver for the way you reported my attack as you were very respectful.

I would also like to thank the police for everything they did and to thank the people who came to my rescue the night I was attacked. Those people who came to my rescue were amazingly brave and kind people.

Thanks also to my family and partner for all their support and love.

Thank you for reading my letter.

I would like to keep my name anonymous for obvious reasons.