A COMMUNITY litter pick has found more than 40 needles at St Paul’s Roundabout it has been claimed.

Bournemouth Litter Squad is a council initiative had been joined by volunteer organisations on Saturday, January 23 to take part in the mass clear up, as part of ongoing improvements to St Paul’s subway.

“Members of the community and Bournemouth Borough Council came together to clean up and remove mountains of litter which had accumulated over months/years at all the entrances to Asda underpass,” said resident Peter Ryan. “Items included 40 plus used needles.”

Peter is the founder of litter picking group Dorset Devils and was present at the clean up on Saturday.

A council spokesman responded by saying: “Some needles were found in the beds and removed from the area by trained volunteers and Council staff.”

Addressing claims the litter had accumulated over months/years the council spokesman said: “St Paul’s Roundabout subway is litter picked daily as part of street cleansing rounds. However until recently the flower beds were filled with large bushes blocking access for the staff and public. We collected all the litter that had been exposed by the recent removal of bushes.”

The underpass has become synonymous with anti-social behaviour in recent times and the uncovering of such a large quantity of needles will be perceived as a setback in the council’s efforts to improve the area.

After two hours of litter picking the 35 volunteers had collected over 50 bags of rubbish.