A MOTHER on a Blackburn estate said she was terrified of drug dealing in the area after her daughter picked up used syringes left lying in the road.

Julie White, of Romney Walk, Blackburn, said her nine-year-old daughter, Stacey, found three used needles while playing outside her home with her friend Damian Hibbert.

Ms White, 26, said: "She didn't have a clue what they were and brought one of them inside. I was horrified. She didn't hurt herself but so easily could have done."

She called the police and asked them to remove the needles but was told to call the borough council, who sent cleaners round to collect them later that day.

She said: "I have never seen stuff like this or heard about it in the area before. There are a lot of children on this estate who play out and they can't be kept in all the time.

"I'm not going to stop Stacey playing outside during the summer, but it's very frightening when you realise things like this are just being left lying around." Ms White was also angered that the needles were lying in the road for an hour and a half after reporting them to the police.

She said: "The police are on their beat around here all the time. I would have thought they could have sent a car to collect them."

Insp Robin Howard, of Blackburn police, said police patrol cars carried disposal boxes for syringes and officers would dispose of any they found.

But police stations would normally refer callers to the council's environmental health department, who were also equipped to deal with them.

He said: "This person was absolutely right to contact us, but we wouldn't normally send an officer. It depends on whether there's an officer available.

"If someone saw them being used, it would be a different matter and an officer would be sent."

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