LITTER pickers in Evesham were shocked after finding more than 50 syringes and needles along a public footpath close to a park.

Keep Britain Tidy ambassador Karen Blanchfield has joined the Anti-Litter Evesham community group’s Great British Spring clean when it found the drug paraphernalia along the public footpath which leads to Abbey Park.

She said: “As an ambassador for Wychavon, I’ve been going around all of the litter picking groups and meeting the volunteers in the district.

“I met the Anti-Litter Evesham group this weekend as they mentioned they were doing the Great British Spring clean.”

She said the drug find was the biggest she had seen.

“I usually find one or two syringes, but this was over 50, which we found with another lady volunteering,” she said.

“We literally had to pull backovergrown roots and there were just bags full of it and the packs which they use – some weren’t open but the ones which were open were either used or we weren’t sure.

“There were also methadone bottles and asthma inhalers.”

The needles and syringes were reported for safe disposal.

She added: “You could hear the children playing close to where we found it along the public footpath – fortunately the syringes and needles where quite far inside the bush which was overgrown. We got in there by using our gardening equipment, but if a child got in there they could have stepped on it - it was so dangerous.

“Finding such horrors by a beautiful park where children play and wildlife flourish reminds us all why we continue to volunteer our time to litter pick - the Evesham team were amazing.”

Laura Van Toller is a volunteer for the Evesham anti-litter group.

She said: “We were very lucky to have a Keep Britain Tidy ambassador join us in Karen.

“Because of Covid we’ve ramped up our work again.

“We went to get litter out in the hedges along the footpath because we saw beer cans and food cans and that’s when we discovered the drug kits further inside.

“As soon as you get towards the end of that footpath there is a lovely slide and a climbing area and then you actually go down the slope and you have the children’s play area, so it’s concerning it was close by.”

Cllr Emma Stokes, Executive Board member for Environment, Recycling and Street Scene at Wychavon District Council, said: “We can confirm that more than 50 needles were found by the volunteer anti-litter group in Evesham whilst carrying out a litter pick.

"They were found in a bush on a public right-of-way leading into Abbey Park and were safely removed by a trained volunteer on-site and collected for disposal. We are grateful to the anti-litter group for their help and this area has now been added to our contract with FCC Environment who will cleanse the area regularly.

"Discarded needles and syringes are very dangerous and a health hazard. We ask residents to report any discarded needles and syringes to our website (www.wychavon.gov.uk/report-it) and once reported, they will be collected within one hour. We ask residents not to touch or remove needles themselves."