Gosport mum concerned after council took more than 15 hours to dispose of hypodermic needle

Gosport resident Helen Godden was shocked to discover the syringe in the gutter in front of her Lindbergh Close house at around 7pm on Thursday night.

The student midwife immediately contacted the out of hours team at Gosport Borough Council to get it removed as she was concerned about children in the area.

Helen, who lives with her five-year-old daughter, was dismayed to see the item was still in the street as late at 11am Friday, and had concerns about children and parents on the school run.

She said: ‘This is not good enough. I have a child that lives here and next door has children. I don’t want it sitting there for a kid to pick up, it might not be a matter of urgency to them but there’s a lot of kids in this area.

‘I was fully expecting someone to take me seriously and come and collect it. I shouldn’t need 15 needles out the front for someone to come and collect it.

‘I’ve never had any trouble at my door, this is the first time I’ve ever come across something like this. It only takes one child to pick it up.’

A spokesman for Gosport Borough Council said the Streetscene team immediately went to dispose of the needle when they got a call about it.

The News understands the out of hours number for the council is a general line and Streetscene did not begin work until 9am Friday.