Concerns over needles dumped at school waste site

Head teacher Adam Brewster said it would be "much better" if the service was relocated

A head teacher wants a waste collection service at a school to be relocated after medical waste and needles were left there.

Heltwate School is one of six sites in south Bretton, Peterborough, where residents can bring their rubbish on the third Saturday of each month, but must remain with it until collected.

The service was described as "invaluable" by a resident who could not travel to the tip.

But health and safety concerns have been raised due to the system not being used correctly.

On Saturday, 18 tonnes (18,000kg) were collected from the six sites

Adam Brewster, head teacher at Heltwate School, said much of the waste was not "appropriate to be at a school site".

"Health and safety is paramount, that [dumping waste] is not healthy and it is not safe," Mr Brewster said. "It would be much better if it was somewhere else."

'Prosecution'

On the allocated day, Aragon comes with vehicles and councillors will help people with their bags, guiding them where to go.

A resident who lives near to the school said she thought people had been coming "in the dead of night" to dump their rubbish, rather than using the system.

"We just won’t want to see it, we don’t want all this stuff dumped everywhere," said Leanne Craven

Leanne Craven, 47, said: "It's wrong, I think people are dumping it that don't live round here, they should bring it when the truck arrives so that it gets taken away properly.

"They've implemented this service for us all to stop the fly tipping we did have on this street - that would all start again."

Saskia O'Neil says if the service is stopped the "street will become an absolute pigsty again"

Saskia O'Neil, 45, said she needed the service as she had no way of taking her rubbish to the tip.

"If it did disappear you’d see a hell of a lot more fly-tipping in Bretton," she said. "For the residents who live around here it’s an invaluable service.

"It would be horrendous if it was taken away."

Sylvia Radouani said about 17 parish councillors volunteered their time to assist with the collections and reduce fly-tipping

Bretton Parish Council clerk, Sylvia Radouani, thanked residents who used the system correctly and said the council backed the initiative.

"I'm not sure what happened at Heltwate in respect of people leaving their rubbish there unattended...that is disgusting," she said.

"We want everybody to use the system correctly and that's why we do it."

Leaving items unattended is classed as fly-tipping, an offence that can lead to prosecution.