CHILDREN FIND DRUG NEEDLES

Needles used by drug users were discovered by two young children while
playing yards from their home.

The two children, aged 11 and 12, stumbled across needles and
blood-stained rags out the back of their home on Hill View Close on
Friday.

None of the family want to be named because they feel threatened by
the drug users.

The grandmother of the children contacted the Journal to highlight the
problem.

She said: "They went out the back gate and there were a lot of
needles. This is at least the third time this has happened.

"The lane is used by drug users not only to inject themselves but also
as a toilet.

"There have been times when we have found human excrement out there.
It is absolutely awful."

The needles were found on the lane that runs between Hillview Close
and East Avenue, off Dysart Road.

Each time the family have come across used needles they have reported
it to the council who have come out and disposed of the drug
paraphernalia within half an hour.

A family member said: "It is almost as if someone has been so
desperate they have gone down the nearest alley way.

"I would like to bring pressure on the council to shut off the alley."

The family fear that if the problem does not go away it could lead to
tragedy.

A member of the family said: "All along the street the majority of
houses have young children. It is a danger to everybody.

"The kids are old enough to nip up to the shop now and all it takes is
for one of them to trip and land on a needle."