Dumping syringes in seaside bin unacceptable, beach cleaners say

The plastic bag, which contained exposed needles, was left in a bin by a Manx beach

The dumping of about 50 syringes in a seaside bin was "irresponsible beyond belief", the founder of a beach cleaning charity has said.

The items were found in a carrier bag during a litter clean-up on Fort Island, near Derbyhaven Bay, organised by Beach Buddies last week.

Bill Dale said the "unacceptable" incident had been reported to police.

The staff member who discovered the bag has had to take anti-HIV medication and antibiotics as a precaution, he added.

Beach Buddies was launched in 2006 and with the help of volunteers collects about 200 tonnes of waste per year, including fishing gear such as netting, which has been washed up along the island's coast.

'Wrong on every level'

Mr Dale said single syringes were occasionally found on beaches, but the discovery of so many in one bag was "a total one-off".

He said the charity gave a safety talk about finding similar items before every session, and volunteers were given litter picking sticks to prevent them having to handle any rubbish found.

In this instance the member of the charity pulled out the bag from an overflowing bin "to be helpful", Mr Dale said.

He said leaving dozens of used syringes with needles exposed in a plastic bag in a public rubbish bin was "just wrong on every level".

None of the syringes were in boxes and a large number still had needles uncovered, which was "not just careless" but "a totally irresponsible action", he continued.

"It beggars belief that the person who did this could possibly think this is acceptable," he added.

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