A DISGUSTED resident who found a tub full of used hypodermic needles in a Brentwood car park was told by police that they would not remove them.
Jonathan Elmes, 20, of Cannons Mead, found the waste in the car park of the Brentwood Centre in Doddinghurst Road at around 1pm on May 14.
The firefighter found the needles at the back of the overflow car park near the dog training centre.
But when he called the police he was shocked to find that they would not remove the needles, and told him it was an issue for Brentwood Borough Council.
Mr Elmes said: "I informed the police of what I had found and they advised me to get in contact with Brentwood Council.
"I was disgusted with the police when they told me that they could not remove them especially when they asked me to move them into a more visible place.
"It is a public place where children can easily go wandering and come across them, as well as dogs because of the dog training ground."
When Mr Elmes returned two days later the needles were still there.
He added: "The fact is that if there was a needle in a park would they turn around and say 'we can't touch it'?
"It doesn't make sense."
A spokesman from Essex Police said: "Police received a call from a member of the public after they discovered a plastic tub of used needles in the car park to the Brentwood Centre.
"The needles were behind a fence next to an old tyre. Officers contacted Brentwood Council to arrange for collection."
The spokesman added: "According to our records we didn't ask him to move the tub."
A council spokesman said: "We have received no reports of needles found at the Brentwood Centre. Had we done so, we would have removed them with strict adherence to our sharps policy.
"Our teams collect discarded needles with gloves and pickers. They then store them in a sealed and labelled sharps box.
"Sharps are subsequently recorded in our sharps register and placed in a secured container at the depot for disposal as clinical waste."
