A COUPLE who found drugs they thought were Ecstasy tablets claim police were too busy to investigate but asked: "Could you go back and see if there are any more?"

Daniel Holden and his girlfriend, Lynn Charnley, of Aspen Fold, Oswaldtwistle, were out walking near their home when they spotted the white pills, each stamped with a capital letter "E".

The couple were walking in the Stanhill area on Tuesday evening when they spotted the tablets near a footpath.

Fearing the drugs might be Ecstasy tablets, the couple picked the pills up and called Accrington police when they returned home.

But they claim that the officer who answered the call did not ask for any details, and simply told them to flush the drugs down the toilet.

And Mr Holden has been further angered by the police's explanation that a current murder inquiry meant their find was not a priority.

Mr Holden, 28, a driver, and Miss Charnley, 34, a student nurse, frequently take their four children for walks in the area.

Inspector Steve Lee, of Accrington Police, said: "Because of the murder inquiry we are currently working on, quite a few officers have been tied up with other duties. We have not got a lot of spare resources and sometimes we cannot deal with things which we would investigate normally. We have to prioritise." But Mr Holden said: "I feel let down because we have tried to do the right thing but the police aren't interested in even checking it out.

"If I wasn't a responsible person then these drugs could have found their way back into circulation or they could have been picked up by children.

"The police never even asked where we had found them. Just because there is a murder inquiry in Accrington doesn't mean things like this should be ignored.

"The police would be in a pickle if they had four murder inquiries - burglars and the like would be busy all over the area."

Insp Lee said the decision whether to investigate usually depended on where, when and how drugs were found, and by whom.

He said drugs finds were frequent, but said the best way to dispose of drugs was through a pharmacy. "We would not normally tell people to flush drugs away because that can contaminate the water system," he said.

Insp Lee said the officer on front counter duty that evening was off shift, and there was no written record of their call, but said he would look into the matter. He invited the couple to contact him directly with their concerns.

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