A COUNCILLOR is angry after syringes he found near a nursery in Weymouth were not collected by authorities until four days later.

Ryan Hope condemned those who left the hazardous items on the pavement in Westham.

But he also criticised Dorset Waste Partnership for failing to pick them up promptly.

Residents who find needles and syringes are advised not to touch them but instead to call DWP whose employees have the equipment to dispose of them.

But Cllr Hope, borough councillor for Westham North, said he gave up waiting for DWP and, eager to get them off the street, arranged with a resident to put them in his house for safekeeping.

Despite assurances the syringes would be collected from the property the following day, they didn’t get collected until four days later.

DWP has been criticised for its level of service following new rubbish and recycling arrangements in Weymouth and Portland.

Cllr Hope said failure by the organisation to act swiftly in this case highlighted another problem.

He was alarmed to find the syringes on the pavement in Hereford Road near a footpath which leads to Little Firs Nursery.

It is not known if they were dropped deliberately or lost.

Cllr Hope said: “I called the police and council but was told it was the waste partnership which is responsible for disposing of needles and syringes.

“I waited for an hour and a half for them to arrive. In that time I had to direct people around them including a group of young children.

“If they were thrown away on purpose then it’s disgusting that someone would do this, particularly near to a place where children congregate.”

Cllr Hope added: “While I was waiting I alerted a passing ambulance and a PCSO but they couldn’t take them.

“I got chatting to a man who lived nearby and he said he would take them.

“We used a pair of pliers and put them in a takeaway box.

“I was dismayed to hear they didn’t turn up to collect them until days later. The service is very poor.”

A DWP spokesman said this should have been a ‘priority’ but there was a delay for which he apologised.

He said an ‘IT problem’ meant that the initial report was sent to the wrong team, otherwise someone would have been sent out that day.

The items were due to be collected from a property the following day but the spokesman said the depot was told the wrong address.

They were eventually collected once the correct address was known.