An addiction clinic set up in St Albans over three years ago is looking to expand in order to cope with its growing patient list.

The Living Room in Hatfield Road has seen over 350 referrals for a wide range of addiction since it was established in December 2012 and as a result now requires more space in which to provide counselling sessions.

It estimates that it needs approximately 2-3,000 sq ft of floor space to be able to house offices, private and group therapy rooms and a creche for people with children in the same building and must be on a good bus route.

The St Albans branch of the clinic currently has 42 patients on its books, and at one stage last year there was as many as 15 people on the waiting list for treatment.

Janis Feely, founder of the Living Room initiative in May 2000, said the increased space would not just provide a better environment in which to give therapy but also improve the chances of retaining current clients.

She explained: “The more amenities we have the more it would help us as we could have separate clinics for all our addictions in the space.

“Drug addicts don’t tend to carry out all of their treatment and more room would give us a better chance of retaining these patients.”

Growing number of younger adults are going to the centre and by running structured group therapy and giving one to one advice, the non-residential rehabilitation centre aims to cure people of chronic, long-standing addictions.

The approach adopted looks into the root cause of any dependency and works towards abstinence and a sense of group togetherness.