Plymouth litter pickers find needles and knives

Some of the needles a litter picking group found in Victoria Park in Plymouth

Litter picking volunteers said this year they have found items such as hunting knives and more than 5,000 used needles and syringes from different areas of Plymouth.

Clean Our Patch CIC runs 43 litter picking groups in the city and has two trained volunteers who have specialist equipment to remove needles.

Teams recently cleared 56 needles and a hunting knife from the edge of Victoria Park in the Millbridge area of the city.

The organisation works with Plymouth City Council, and the local authority disposes of the rubbish collected and advises people who find needles to contact them immediately for disposal.

The full sharps boxes that Clean Our Patch CIC collected in one year containing about 5,000 needles

El Clarke and Ash Samuels started Clean Our Patch in lockdown after they started litter picking in their area.

The organisation has now grown into 43 groups, with more than 400 members.

The litter picks began with drinks cans and crisp packets, but teams said they soon saw needles, nitrous oxide canisters and knives.

A hunting-style knife was found while litter picking on the edge of Victoria Park

Ms Clarke said the number of needles had reduced from what she had seen in previous years.

"The second year we were litter picking we found nearly 12,000 needles," she said.

"The organisations that are working across the city to increase awareness and make sure needle exchanges are working and are accessible to people are doing an amazing job, because we can see that in the data."

She added the walkway between Victoria Park and Wantage Gardens remained a place that had to be regularly cleaned.

Some of the knives and sharp implements the litter pickers have found

Another recent find volunteers uncovered was a survival-style hunting knife buried in undergrowth in Victoria Park.

Volunteer Jamie Fallick-Wicks said: "I didn't expect to find that after five minutes of starting.

"You don't want to think where it could have ended up if it wasn't found."

It was the second knife he had found - the other was a kitchen knife, found two weeks ago in a different part of the city.

Teams said when a knife was found it has to be photographed in position and the police informed.

It was later passed to them for disposal.

Councillor Tom Briars-Delve, cabinet member for the environment and climate change, said the group "care deeply about the city and we're so lucky to have them here in Plymouth".

The council said if people found needles or syringes to not attempt to pick them up.

The local authority urged people to report the finding so specially trained staff could dispose of it safely.