A POTENTIALLY deadly hoard of 1,000 used hypodermic needles was found dumped by the side of a busy Darlington road yesterday afternoon.

The discarded needles were recovered by Darlington Borough Council's uniformed wardens after concerned residents called the town's litter hotline.

When they arrived at Whessoe Road, the wardens were shocked by the quantity of needles.

They were not in a bag and had been strewn across the pavement. They have now been disposed of safely.

It is not known where they came from and a team of wardens will now spend the next few days trying to find out who dumped them.

A spokesman for Darlington Borough Council said: "Dumping these needles was an incredibly irresponsible act.

"They could have proved a hazard to anyone, but especially to children who may have picked them up thinking they were toys.

"Usually, with fly-tipped waste, there is some evid- ence as to where it came from but there are no clues this time."

As part of their investigation, the wardens will speak to people in the Whessoe Road area to discover if anyone saw the needles being left there.

A council spokesman said: "Such a large quantity suggests the needles were used by more than one person, especially as they were dumped in one load.

"Fly-tipping is a serious offence and when such dangerous material is just left lying around, it is even more worrying.

"We are determined to find out where these needles came from and why they were abandoned on the roadside."

The litter hotline was set up by the council as part of its anti-litter campaign.

The campaign, backed by The Northern Echo, aims to clean up the streets of Darlington and stop people dropping litter.

Areas that are affected by fly-tipping or are particularly dirty, can be reported to the council which will send out squads to clear them up.

Uniformed wardens, who can fine people who drop litter, then patrol the cleaned areas.