Piles of 'laughing gas' nitrous oxide canisters found in Portsmouth car park

Environmental campaign group The Final Straw Solent, which is run in association with The News, found scores of gas canisters at Farlington Marshes.

The canisters are used to store nitrous oxide, more commonly known as laughing gas, which can cause dizziness, lack of oxygen and – in extreme cases – a vitamin B12 deficiency.

According to Bianca Carr, co-founder of The Final Straw Solent, the number of canisters was clearly a concerning issue.

She said: ‘We found 103 of them in total and 60 of them were all in a pile together.

‘They were obviously all being used in a single session.

‘I just hope there was a large group of people, because that’s clearly too much for just a few people, it would be dangerous.’

The Psychoactive Substances Act makes the supply of nitrous oxide illegal, but medical products are considered a legitimate substance.

The legal high canisters were found in the grass verge by the car park – less than a few metres away from the bin.

‘They were just ditched on the side,’ Bianca said.

‘I reckon it’s people in cars just chucking them out of the window, but it’s lazy and careless with no regard for our environment.

‘We’ve got to do something about this; there’s clearly an issue here with people taking too many of these legal highs.’