POTENTIALLY lethal needles are strewn across a Leyland wasteland where children regularly play.

Children as young as ten have found used syringes abandoned on wasteland on the Wade Hall housing estate.

Some even admit to picking them up with their bare hands to take a closer look.

One worried mother, who asked not to be named, said she had warned her children to keep away. She said: "I tell them to leave them alone and come away from there.

"But they have to play somewhere. You see them all the time by the tree. The place is littered with dirty needles. It's a minefield."

Police acknowledge that Wade Hall estate has a drug problem but claim it's no worse than other parts of the North West.

A spokesman said: "We are targeting both users and suppliers all over Leyland in the hope of cutting out drug supply and demand."

South Ribble Borough Council, which is responsible for removing the hyperdermic needles urged people to report it if they saw anything.

A spokesperson said: "We do have litter wardens who tour the borough and supervisors who check to see it's done properly but we don't always know if something happened since a visit."

The Leyland Motors Sports and Social Club has got together with the Community Anti-Drugs team to send home to local school children the hard hitting message: 'drugs kill' .

They are inviting families who have lost a child through drugs, to go to the club to explain the dangers of drug abuse. Anyone who feels they can help should contact Harry Haslam on 422400.

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