Hundreds of used needles found near Sheffield city centre nursery

The needles have been found near the River Don behind the Wicker (photo submitted).

The ‘disgusting’ sight was photographed by young mum Georgina Broadbent, who takes her three-year-old son to a nursery on the Wicker.

A needle exchange operates in the Wicker Pharmacy over the road and a needle bin is situated a few metres away under a bridge.

But Georgina, aged 20, of Gleadless, says the nursery have reported the problem ‘hundreds’ of times in the past few years and nothing ever gets done.

She said: “I take my son down there all the time because he likes the ducks but it has been like that for as long as I have been going.

“It is like that every single day - if you go into those bushes there are hundreds of needles.

“I am not the only mum who walks down there and it shouldn’t be happening a stone’s throw from a nursery.

“If my boy picked up one of them and pricked himself he could end up on a life-long course of drugs.

“It is such a nice area - if there wasn’t all those needles it would be lovely. It is just a shame that a minority ruin it for the majority.”

On the same day Georgia took her photo, others on social media reported needles being dumped and people injecting drugs in the vicinity of the city centre.

Anthony Cunningham from the Sheffield Tent City homelessness project posted a video to Twitter showing hundreds on needles dumped in Park Hill.

He said: “When tent city was up there was hardly a needle in sight around Park Hill and drug services got to do some positive outreach with people.

“We could easily contain the drug use again and make our communities safer.”

And other residents reported seeing drug users injecting themselves and dozens of needles being dumped around Sheffield railway station.

South Yorkshire Police have been approached for comment.