Mother"s horror at needles in garden

Jenny Foulds • Published 23 Jun 2009 10:00

Housing bosses vow to investigate

A PREGNANT mum was horrified to find used needles in her back garden, as her two young kids played in it.

The alarming find, pictured, was made by the 26-year-old at the back of her house in Levenvale.

And she has expressed fears for the safety of her children, alleging that the needles have been dumped there by a nuisance neighbour.

The young single mum was shocked to stumble upon two used needles in her back garden, as her children - aged four and eight - were outside playing.

She says she is thankful to have found the dirty hypodermic needles at the edge of her garden before they could have caused any harm.

The mum, who asked not to be names, told the Reporter: 'I could have quite easily been pricked with the needles, because they were quite hard to notice as there was no syringe attached.

'But by dumping these in my garden, my kids" lives are basically getting put in danger, because they could have picked these up or been scratched by them, which could have led to all sorts of things.

'This was incredibly dangerous, he just doesn"t seem the least bit interested that I have young kids who could have been hurt by these two dirty needles.'

She claims she found the needles in her garden on Tuesday June 8, and called the council about the frightening discovery.

West Dunbartonshire Council"s (WDC"s) Environmental Health team attended the garden and removed the needles last week.

She added: 'With the Summer coming in now, my kids are going to be out and playing all the time - but with this, I don"t know if they"re safe to go out in their own back garden. If he wants to ruin his life, that"s up to him, but he doesn"t need to put mine and my family"s at risk.

'I hope that something can be done to prevent this from happening again, because it is just unacceptable.'

The council has vowed to investigate the situation.

A WDC spokeswoman said: 'West Dunbartonshire Council will not tolerate this type of anti-social behaviour and is currently investigating this matter as a priority.

'The council will take any necessary action against anyone found discarding syringes irresponsibly.

'If residents have particular concerns of this nature, we would advise them to contact ground maintenance on 01389 608413.

'Or alternatively residents can contact the out-of-hours controller on 0800 197 1004, where staff will deal with their complaints effectively.'

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This article appeared in Dumbarton & Vale of Leven Reporter 23 Jun 09

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