South Yorkshire Police in talks over legal action to tackle Spice use

Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts added: "We are often pseudo-medics, trying to work out what we do with zombified people"

Police are in talks about possible legal action against people who take a drug which leaves them "zombified".

South Yorkshire Police and councils have started discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service over whether Spice users are causing a "public nuisance".

An officer said the force cannot "arrest our way out of [the problem]".

Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts added: "We are often pseudo-medics, trying to work out what we do with zombified people."

If users are deemed to be in breach of a public nuisance law, it would open the door to prosecution and any case brought by the force - if successful - would act as a test case for the rest of the country, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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Supt Sarah Poolman said: "We would be setting a precedent if we succeeded in getting a charge of public nuisance.

"This is not just a criminal justice issue, it is a societal issue."

Police work to tackle the problem in Barnsley, where the problem has emerged with increasing frequency, had been "quite innovative", Supt Poolman said.

Anti-social behaviour legislation has been used to move users out of the town centre, however she conceded that was "displacing the problem".

Although succeeding in prosecutions under public nuisance laws may help, Supt Poolman said: "We cannot arrest our way out of it. "