CHILDREN will get hurt on a ‘mountain of vodka bottles’ because of lazy residents, a Darwen councillor claims.

Marsh House representative Simon Huggill says he cleared 30 glass spirit bottles from the council-owned Rosehill nature area off Sough Road in October.

But now there are up to 50 in the same place once more.

“Young children will start throwing them around because the temptation is there, and someone will end up getting hurt,” said Coun Huggill.

The area is home to a wide variety of wild plants and animals, including frogs, birds and butterflies.

Coun Huggill is keen to attract grants to improve the biodiversity of area further by sowing seeds, carrying out litter-picking sessions and improving footpaths with the help of the Probation Service payback team.

He added: “We share a planet, so why treat it in this way?

“This site is only about 20 or 30 metres away from a bin, and it’s sheer laziness leading to this every weekend.

“If the kids of the people doing this had an accident, they would be the first to shout and scream about it, or blame the council, when it’s not the council’s fault.

“This whole problem of people walking around and dumping bottles and rubbish exasperates me.

“I saw someone walk out of a pub the other day with a bottle and throw it down a drain. If I hadn’t been in my car at the time I’d have run after him and told him to remove it.”

Coun Faryad Hussain, executive member for environmental improvement and sustainability, said: “Fly-tipping is a criminal offence and also incredibly anti-social.

“To leave litter in an area where local people visit and play is despicable and we will prosecute anyone who is caught committing this offence.”