Used drug needles have been found abandoned on a Shrewsbury retail park, including in the toilets of a supermarket.
Security staff at Meole Brace Retail Park discovered more than 150 needles, many of which were used, over the Christmas holiday period. Most of them were in the toilets of Sainsbury’s.
The supermarket is involved in the Needle Exchange Programme which allows injecting drug users to obtain free sterile equipment. Users are encouraged to return these in the secure containers provided for safe disposal, but many just dump them in bins.
Rob Cheadle, from Valley Security, said: “Needles being left in toilets is very dangerous and anyone, including children, could accidentally touch them. Drug users don’t care about anyone else, just themselves.”
Mr Cheadle said, in a separate incident before Christmas, two drug users were caught having sex in the baby’s changing room, which was written in his log book.
“I have made people from Sainsbury’s and others from the retail park aware of what’s happening but they seem to be naive about it,” he said. “More checks need to be done.”
He added that the retail park had numerous anti-social problems he is calling for action to address them.
Sainsbury’s spokeswoman Gillian Taylor admitted there had been problems with needles but denied the sex incident.
Isolated
She said: “There has been a couple of isolated incidents over the last three months and we are playing our part to be more vigilant.”
Police spokesman Maria Hawkaluk said there had been problems with groups of youths acting in an anti-social manner on the retail park and elsewhere in Meole Brace.
She said: “Local police and community support officers have been doing a lot of work to deal with the problems, which have significantly reduced in recent months.”