A WORRIED Andover mum is appealing to end antisocial behaviour and littering in a local park after her son injured himself on a discarded syringe.

Susie Pike, of Millway Close, has been left angry and anxiously awaiting test results after her son Harrison picked up the syringe when he was playing hide and seek with his friend in the wooded area opposite their house on Tuesday, 7 April.

Nappies, human waste and broken bottles were also found at the site.

The 39-year-old was still at work when the incident happened at around 4pm.

She said: “They came across a syringe and my son decided to pick it up. He squeezed the liquid and rubbed the sharp end of it on his finger.

“We don’t think he pricked his finger, but it is grazed.”

The family then spent the evening in A&E where Harrison had blood tests. Luckily, because the eight-year- old was born in Australia he had up-to-date tetanus and hepatitis B injections.

Mrs Pike and her husband, Paul,have lived in their property for seven years along with Harrison and their daughter Ava, six.

Harrison is allowed to play on the grassed and wooded area outside the home, checking in at the house every 15 minutes.

There is a history of antisocial behaviour and littering on the site at night, but Mr and Mrs Pike have always tried to educate their children on what they should and should not pick up.

Mrs Pike said: “There is all sorts so we have always told them that if it is natural they can use it to build and play, but if it is man-made they do not touch it.”

The family informed the council and somebody came to take the needle away within half an hour. A team of council cleaners then attended the site the following day.

The mum-of-two said: “The clean-up was apparently unpleasant, the men found nappies, human poo and there are always broken bottles.

“I am blooming angry, I’m furious.

The anger is not so much at the council, it is at the people that are ignorant enough to do it.”

The bookkeeper is now calling for help to allow children to play out safely.

She said: “We need some sort of deterrent there to keep it nice. The council has said that they can look at more regular cleaning and there is a neighbourhood watch. I would like to know that somebody is going to look into this and come up with a plan. I genuinely don’t know what the answer is, but there must be something that can be done.”

A Test Valley Borough Council spokesman said: “When we receive reports that syringes have been found we go out to remove them as soon as possible.

“In this particular case we went out to remove the syringe within half an hour of it being reported and checked the area to make sure there weren’t any other syringes.

“We also reported the matter to the police and undertook a deep clean of the area where the syringe was found the following morning. We have since been back to clear all remaining rubbish in the nearby area.

Advising residents, it added: “We would urge residents to contact the council immediately if they find any evidence of drug paraphernalia and we will respond as a priority. Areas known to be used by drug users should also be reported directly to the police via 101.”