MORE than 30 needles were left overnight at a retail park in Wrexham leaving workers outraged.

Drug paraphernalia, clothes, toiletries and rubbish were left behind Heron Foods at Island Green Shopping Park between the hours of Thursday night and 6am on Friday.

Staff working at the retail park were shocked to find about 35 needles, some left with blood on, had been discarded behind the store.

Some believed people had been rummaging through bins and Sharps boxes, used to dispose of previous needles left in the area, to find needles and other items they wanted to use.

A cleaner working at the retail park, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “There’s bags of needles. Some have been used, some haven’t, but there’s absolutely loads.

“It is all just from last night [Thursday]. Some of the needles have fresh blood in. It’s disgusting.

“I already have a Sharps box which is full of needles I have had to clean up over the past couple of months.

“We find people have gone through all the bins overnight and what they don’t want they just throw anywhere they like.

“If I’m doing the bins I wear gloves but what if one of the needles was in there and I didn’t know? It’s dangerous.

“The police and the council don’t want to know because it’s private property. And they don’t realise just how much of a problem drug abuse is in Wrexham.”

The cleaner also told the Leader they come in to work early in the morning most days and always find drug paraphernalia left in the area, but believe this amount was ‘the worst ever’ and said ‘no-one should have to come to work to find this mess’.

They added: “I usually find one or two needles but the amount that I’ve found today [on Friday] that has been dumped is unreal. I’ve never seen anything like this before and I’ve got to pick everything up.”

On Friday, the Leader reported calls were made for enforcement officers to deal with people dropping used needles.

Cllr Nigel Williams, previously speaking at a Wrexham Council scrutiny meeting, said: “If you were walking down Lord Street and dropped a cigarette, Kingdom would be on you like a ton of bricks.

“But if you drop a needle somewhere, you get away with it.

“We all know where these areas are and we should be targeting them.”

Lawrence Isted also noted if there is a problem with discarded needles on private land, it would most likely be the owner’s responsibility to clear the area.

Cllr Phil Wynn, Brynyffynnon Ward, told the Leader drug users are now being issued with a black plastic ‘safe box gadget’ to put the needles in after using them.

But at the scene on Friday, the boxes had been discarded and needles were left next to them.

Cllr Wynn added: “I’m not surprised to hear about this, they are going to find places off the beaten track. We know we have heroin addicts in Wrexham, some are on the street, we will from time to time come across them.

“I am not surprised that number of needles was found at one location. The crucial point is it’s up to the land owner to keep it clear.

“Unfortunately, this is just the symptoms of a drug culture with a small cohort of individuals that are drug users.”

A spokesman for Savills, the managing agent at Island Green Shopping Park, said: “We can confirm that the items discarded in the service yard overnight were removed and disposed of in line with the correct protocol. 

“The health and safety of both customers and staff at the scheme is regarded with the utmost importance.

“We will continue to monitor the situation.”