NEEDLES have been found on a road corner on Gorse Hill by a disgusted café owner.

Maria Jackson spotted unused needles under the Edinburgh Street road sign, as well as finding a used needle behind the Lollipop Café, when she was on her way to open her store Monday morning.

She phoned the council as soon as she entered her shop but says she was told that it didn’t know what time, or even what day, it could send someone round to dispose of the needles safely.

The council has since said that because the needles on private land, it could not take them away.

Maria said: “As I came around the corner on the way to work, there was loads of needles discarded. I phoned up the council as soon as they opened this morning and was told they would come around and collect them, but they couldn’t tell me a time or a day, which I think is quite appalling as there are kids everywhere.

“It only takes one accident and there could be serious injuries.

“I think this is a priority, an emergency even. I think they should have put down the phone, phoned somebody and got them straight out.

“I just think that’s appalling.”

This isn’t the first time 45-year-old Maria has had issues near her café.

She added: “Last week there was loads of the silver capsules out the back, the gas canisters, they were all over the car park.

“I’ve had people out the back shooting up in the bin room, I’ve had drug deals out in the back car park, it’s just getting worse.

“Every week you don’t know what to expect when you turn up to work. I’ve had blood and needles out the back.

“It’s just getting worse and nobody seems to care. Nobody seems to bother. But it’s children’s lives at risk, there are a lot of children living round here and it’s on a school route as well, so I’m really concerned.”

A council spokesman said: “We received a report about needles at this location on Monday. Unfortunately in this instance, we were unable to remove the needles as they were found on private land. The resident was advised to contact the landowner directly.

“If a hypodermic needle is found on public land we will always aim to remove it within four hours of a report. However, landowners are legally responsible for clearing away items discarded on private land.”