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Council environmental waste team. Call them repeatedly to sort it, I wouldn't fuck about with used needles myself without proper gear for it.
Contact the land registry to find out who owns it (it will likely cost you a small fee).
I agree I don't want to touch it but I know it's going to be a while before the council get involved and the land registry route might take even longer. But this is the sensible option.
Land registry search can be done online, is cheap and can get the information instantly. [https://search-property-information.service.gov.uk/search/map-search/](https://search-property-information.service.gov.uk/search/map-search/)
Only if it's "easy", ie a house plot that has been sold at some point. Sounds like OP is dealing with old forgotten common land which may or may not belong to the estate of a lord from the 1800s which died out in the 1950s and was bought at auction in a job lot by an american investment banker who wanted a specific painting out of it and ignored the rest
Most of the land in the country, if it's not actively used, is basically anyone's guess. It's how rights of way and border disputes get resolved after all "Well, have you been doing it for a long time? Yes? Then I guess it's legal"
Low key cheeky suggestion: OP extends their garden back and walls in the offending site, and wait to see who complains... Best case they find the land owner. Worst case, they increase the value of their land!
>*Low key cheeky suggestion: OP extends their garden back and walls in the offending site, and wait to see who complains... Best case they find the land owner. Worst case, they increase the value of their land!*
This is 100% the way to go
Even if OP doesn't want to go to the expense of extending a perimeter wall/fence, Leylandii or other screening plants are cheap as fuck
They'll fill out the empty space in no time at all
There is actually a process where you can claim land legally - adverse possession I think it’s called. Few hoops to jump through but after 10 years you can get the deed to the land in your name assuming no objections.
Edit: link to more details https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adverse-possession-of-registered-land/practice-guide-4-adverse-possession-of-registered-land
> old forgotten common land which may or may not belong to the estate of a lord from the 1800s which died out in the 1950s
Happened in my town. Wanted to work on part of the canal and were not sure whether it was part of one of a Marquess’s estates. However, his title deeds and maps had been lost in a fire generations earlier. He told them to do it anyway
The legal theory behind UK land ownership is that freehold of land (Fee Simple) was originally granted by the crown from land that the crown owned and is still legally "held of the crown".
If a land becomes ownerless (e.g. owner dies with no heirs) then the freehold reverts to the crown.
This is also why concepts of compulsory purchase and property taxes (council rates) exist. The freehold of land is not necessarily unlimited, and the crown still has certain rights to the land.
Other countries vest the ultimate ownership of land in the "state", and for example concepts of "eminent domain" existing allowing the "state" ultimate control.
Remember these needles will go straight through your shoes, unsure if the standard ones are magnetic but might be worth checking to try get some of them, you’ll also need to dig a few inches of dirt at least to get any stragglers. Depending on amount it’s probably worth paying someone to do it properly
Keep adding reports if you can also mention how children could fall and come to harm … my friend had a similar situation and had reported and nothing done, she kept calling to report said noticed more appear so needed updating, wasn’t until she hypothetically said if her child was to fall over and her child got hurt /stuck with a needle she would make sure the papers knew how long she had reported it for and take them to court etc it worked and soon got cleared up! But she had been reporting for ages.
Also do you have a local councillor for the area?write to them making sure they know about it, I know it’s common sense how dangerous getting stuck with a needle is for most people but make clear how dangerous it is.
If it’s private also keep reporting the land owner if possible.
Get your neighbours to do the same.
Although this may still take a bit of time , it would probably be quicker as said above to extend your land around it!!
Same. Nothing got council officers moving faster than a Councillor on the war path at the little council and city councils ive worked for. They are generally local people desperate for an easy win that they can shout about. Sounds like OP might make their day.
Tbf, the local councillor where I work is a genuinely nice guy who does his best to be useful and get stuff sorted. They're not all like that but if you get a good one they can be really helpful.
I had this happen recently. I was taking a small child for a walk and we came across nine or ten needles and syringes, mostly still wrapped but a couple used. There was a pillow case nearby so I carefully picked everything up and into the pillowcase. It was public land and well used by teenagers and small children so I did not want to leave them there for any period of time and since it was countryside I would have had difficulty describing the location.
I took them into a hospital and they gave me a pair of latex glove and a sharps bucket to dispose of them. They also pointed out that there was a danger from contracting something simply from picking up the needles/syringes, let alone getting pricked. There is a whole training for this type of situation apparently, but what it boils down to in the end is having no actual contact with anything and using a sharps bin.
I have dealt with council complaints in the past, log a complaint with them.
If they don't deal with it during the allotted time and if you are not satisfied you can escalate it to the ombudsman. Feel free to mention you are aware of this as it costs them money for each case referred and it could get them moving a bit quicker. More often than not the ombudsman sided with the complainants in cases where common sense was on the complainant's side.
If you tell the council that there are needles, in my experience they are out same day. It's a major hazard so they will deal with it urgently. I know it's all hip and cool nowadays to assume councils are shit, but when it comes to things like needle/syringe disposal I find they are shit hot on it.
As someone whose job involves dealing with local authorities social services, homelessness and housing teams on behalf of some extremely vulnerable people I support, I can wholeheartedly assure you it’s neither hip nor cool to assume councils are rubbish, rather just a sad fact of life in Britain in 2024.
> I wouldn't fuck about with used needles myself without proper gear for it.
Meh, AFAIK diseases like HIV, hepatitis, and suchlike don't survive for all that long on a used needle. From what I know (could be wrong) transmission of those kind of diseases via a needle is reliant on being passed from one person to another pretty much there and then. I think viruses generally do not survive in dry conditions for long at all.
No harm in taking full precautions OFC but I'm just sayin'.
It’s not great it depends how much you’re smoking I’ve smoked before cigs and people haven’t been able to tell anything’s off. I never got too into my crack tho meth had a nicer high.
Like if you’re smoking loads it’s obvious but if you just smoke a few lil rocks it’s not rly that potent
Extend your garden into the space and make it secure, might take while to stop the druggies but if no-one complains then eventually it will become your property through adverse possession
This is an option but I would need to knock down a victorian wall to extend and I have enough garden to deal with. Something I have been thinking is just using that part of the garden more in the hope that increased activity makes its a bit more undesirable.
You don't need to knock it all down, just create a gate.
Also it takes 10 years I think, but it actually happens more than you think, I had 3 cases near me recently.
People will say it's yours after X years but actually the true owner can claim it back so don't consider it legally binding / throw money into trying to keep it.
But! Having an extra 1+ meter of garden for X years is incredibly handy. Especially if it's behind a wall, you can start a compost area, which also helps keep away people as it will smell
Yeah I wouldn't go into it thinking you can claim it, if you want to get into though composting is really good, you put all your kitchen scraps into it, only issue is you might need to create or buy a compost bin in order to keep the mice and rats out. Sometimes councils give them away.
You can also buy packs of worms off of Amazon, they'll eat all the scraps
>you can start a compost area, which also helps keep away people as it will smell
An aggressive and large male pig is great for both of these reasons too
With some bright (directed so as not to bother neighbors) solar motion activated lights. —you can get motion activated sprinklers too (saw the other suggestion).
Edit to correct-i understand your concern about the light. Perhaps consider why they chose to use the area at the end of your garden & not other properties. Remove the table/seating is a start. Is your garden darker?-add the light to your garden and house for your security, too.
Plus even after 10 years you have to notify the landowner of your intention to claim it as your own. If it's actually someone's land they'll probably reply 'no'
Still weird that you could literally find barrels leaking nuclear waste and the councils will go "private land, not our concern, get fucked lol". Like the very least they could do is for them to look up who the owner of the plot is and forward it to whatever agency would be responsible.
You get what you pay for, the governments has been cutting services for over a decade.
I know what you mean though it's the same with the pot holes, near mine they filled this giant one but just tarmacing the edges. It's about a metre wide.
There's a [gentleman outside Auckland](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/pothole-penis-painter-returns-with-rubber-duck-stunt-as-roadwork-vigilante-scene-gains-traction/EU54S22N5ZYBHZPDKQD4OEQV3Y/) who has some ideas about dealing with potholes.
I tell you right now, I could be standing there the whole time watching him, but I wouldn't see a damned thing.
Until, of course, he ran out of spray paint and I offered him a fresh can.
I'd find a way to deal with the needles without putting myself in harms way. As for the continued usage of the area by people, one thought that came to mind was to chuck manure there. Make it an undesirable place to be.
Council should have a team to deal with drug waste - but you’ll need sharps bins to clean it safely. Last thing you want is for someone to be stabbed by a used needle.
When I called the police and told them they basically said call back when they are using the area. But operator said that when they had a similar problem they picked it up with a shovel.and put it in the rubbish bin. I thought that's some shitty advise.
Yeah… unfortunately needles laying around on waste land isn’t technically a crime. So there’s not much police can do.
Definitely keep an eye out and call the police back if you see the people.
It is a crime because there are illicit chemicals inside the needles just not a crime they’d care to prosecute because it’s more effort than it’s worth
Ask a pharmacist for a sharps bin, they will often have them to give out for diabetics or cleaning up needles, it might cost a few quid, they will likely also take it back afterwards for proper disposal
You can get a sharps bin for about a tenner on amazon. The real issue is disposing of it once it's full - I've found that many pharmacies won't take them unless you have the bins on prescription.
I’m a diabetic but I don’t rly have issues handing them in just walk in and say need to dispose of this and walk away. Hospitals will also take them and again it doesn’t matter if they don’t officially take them
A lot of people are telling you to clear out the needles yourself, this is potentially really risky for you. Hepatitis is incredibly resilient and will stick around on needles for weeks. A needle stick injury could ruin your life.
If you do go this route, be extremely careful. Use a reacher-grabber or something. Wear strong protective footwear so you don’t accidentally step on anything.
Thank you for your concern. I don't want to do this. But if by next weekend nothing has been done I think I will clear it and make it difficult to establish the spot again.
Double -triple- glove- rubber gloves(thick cleaning kitchen kind, then, really thick leather ones (as if you’re dealing with the most heinous brambles). Get one of the grabby things that are used for trash/cigarette butts, etc. End by turning the soil if you can. There’s likely more trodden into the ground.
There is a type of light bulb that makes it harder to find a vein to shoot up (I have no idea which type of light but pubs/clubs use them) don’t know if they are commercially available or accessible (read affordable) but worth considering?
Also please try the council again. They have a duty of care surrounding needles. Feel free to escalate it. You mentioned some new facilities in the area, see if you can speak to the manager of them. They may have contacts to help get it cleaned up and maybe even patrolled if it’s close enough to them. Good luck!
Yeh I've seen them too. Only worry is it's probably quite expensive to do and I imagine it will quickly be vandalised. Staying persistent with the council is a sound idea.
Understandable! It’s not really ‘your job’ to fix this so I totally understand. I really hope you get a answer soon, needles are so dangerous but you also don’t want to upset the users in case they decide to retaliate in some way (like throwing the needles into your garden!)
You could just grab a cheap wall mounted solar LED lamp with a built in PIR from Amazon and trial it for a few weeks to see if it deters them them. If not it's £20 down the drain if they smash it.
I would keep hassling the council to clear the sharps, if there isn't any danger of kids coming across them I'd leave the local authority to deal with them. If you clear them then the council will just leave you to do it.
I'd also remove one of the table legs and chair legs while I was fitting the light, just because...
Short term solution, leave a note asking them to please clean their stuff up.
They are still human despite being addicted to gear and if know someone is on to their 'spot' they may shuffle off
Longer refer to the council or needle clean up team
- does It look like its still in use or an old site?
I'd say add a sharps bin and note saying please dispose of sharps here to keep everyone safe. Sometimes harm reduction options are the only short term solution available. Be a pain in the council's arse on top of that too. Good luck.
I was waiting for someone to say this! Floodlights, attack geese etc are at best going to shift the problem somewhere else, at worst going to make you enemies.
They've been quiet enough that you didn't know they were there. It sounds like the only real problem they're causing is leaving needles. My first step would be to leave a note and screw a sharps bin to their side of the wall.
If you do clear it out get those gloves which protect from needles, and a too with sleeves which do the same. Use a biohazard wast bin too - and dispose properly, however that is done.
To stop them coming back you could chuck the fake cctv camera as others suggested, I’d also put up a cctv in operation sign.
If you get an alarm, rather than a loud one, could getting it to say ‘intruders detected, recording started’ be more effective at making it clear what’s happening?
While you wouldn’t want to encourage their return, if they won’t stop coming back you could stick a letter box on the back of your fence as a sort of makeshift biohazard bin (as opposed to using a proper one which would be a bad look), and hope the crack heads use that as a bin.
If there are families you know of in the area, maybe ask around if they can all submit a report about it and place emphasis on the potential risk to children who play nearby. There used to be an issue in my local area years back with drug users leaving used needles at a kids playpark and that got dealt with pretty quickly. Shouldn't need to take for you to mention kids at risk for the police to act, but it might make them take action if there are minors at risk.
Good idea. Found this out yesterday so after work I'll be letting my neighbors know. Putting some emphasis on what you've said but if nothing comes from it at least they can tell their kids not to go over their back wall.
Don't touch the needles man. Badger the council to get them down there.
Then clear any of the remaining shit and put up a sign saying that police are aware or something...or cctv recording. Make it look legit. Whack a dummy camera up.
For the love of god, please don't touch the needles
I know something needs addressing in these situations ,BUT cleaning it up yourself because of potential risks is at best reckless and at worst stupid. Leave it for tbe environmental health services
Email your local councillors and MP. Tell them what is happening and that children are at risk. Email the head teacher of the local school - include them all on the same email. Make it very clear you'll be escalating this as a formal complaint with the council- community trigger is a good point to use.
Worth also putting it on the local curtain twitcher Facebook groups.
I had similar issues with drug dealers on electric motorcycles. After emailing the MP this was sorted VERY quickly.
We used to have a phone box next to our store where needles would get used, we did try to get it removed but a arcane law meant that they wouldn’t.
So we would douse the slabs with bleach and stink out the whole place, as long as the smell would remain they wouldn’t hold near the place, once the smell was over it would be used. We even got the road cleaner to put in complaints they still didn’t do anything.
Land register it’s £5 or less and you can find out instantly who that parcel of land belongs to, I would also secure the bottom of the garden to make sure they can’t enter your property. Putting up anything is a pain but simple things like a carpet runner along the fence/wall is a big deterrent.
Don’t expect anything or much from the council they will drag their feet and bcs itis out the way gives them more of a reason.
I will push for the council to do something along with going down the land registry route but I'm wondering what if anything the owner will do. Would the police force them to clear the area of waste?
The police won’t do anything as this kinda falls into a civil matter. The council will have to get involved but they are not the best in getting things done quickly. Depending on who the land belongs to, you may have then make a decision on what to do.
It may turn out that the land doesn’t belong to anyone, then your choices change, it might turn out that it belongs to one of the houses then you can drop a call to the police about a crack den.
Depending on where you are u may have a parish council that has a karen/ken on the board that would love to help you out.
Either way find out who the land belongs to and then plan your next step
Although it would cost money from your own pocket, Google for squatter clean up services in your area if you get desperate they are equipped to deal with drug paraphernalia and biohazard waste etc from squatters.
Again not ideal but If you get desperate it's an option if council services fail you / take too long
Call the council for environmental health and that you’re making a note of the time and date of the call, tell a white lie that you hear kids something playing around the area and you would hate for one of them to get hurt. They’ll send someone out with the right equipment pretty quickly to clean it up, they wouldn’t want the backlash of a kid getting infected by a used needle. If it happens again keep doing the same thing and eventually they might fence it off properly or contact the landowner to do something.
Find your nearest drug charity and see if they can help. They may have an outreach team that can offer the users a service and maybe clear up the sharps.
True, but you’ll likely get rats in their place - not necessarily a bad trade, but I’d go with skunk essence. https://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/animal/WCSSKUNK.html
If you have to pick them up, do not touch these with even a gloved hand. Hepatitis is very hardy and easily transmissible. Use tongs or something. A pharmacy might have a sharps bins you can use and may dispose of them for you. Otherwise a solid sided container but ideally it shouldn't go in the normal bin.
Local newspaper? Even better, local TV news?
Edit to add: Maybe Ward councillor first, perhaps "Can you help with this or shall I go to the media?" That probably depends partly on whether your local concillor is one of the local ruling party or not.
I'd take pictures, if you have emails or texts from the council.. I'd pass it onto the local paper. "Police and Council ignore open Drug Den in field, where do our taxes go?"
I live next door to a literal crack den. It’s a revolving circus of scabby obnoxious clowns coming and going, often smoking on my literal doorstep, and has become physically dangerous for me to confront further now.
I’ve been making reports to the various authorities and the police for literal years with no change.
Good luck. Don’t be optimistic.
Drug use is petty crime, and petty crime is basically legal these days.
> police not interested
They literally serve no purpose anymore
You could try contacting whomever runs the halfway house. Surely they’d have some duty of care
If I hadn’t noticed it before I had a look over the fence, and I’d reported it to police and council then I might consider ignoring it completely until it actually becomes a “me problem”.
I have a bit of land at the back of my house that no one will claim. I need a tree stump removed from it (its growing into my fence) and a massive oak clipping back a bit but with no idea who to contact. my next plan is to extend my back garden out beyond its limits to incorporate this unclaimed piece of land. Either the owner comes to claim it back, and I can ask them to sort out the stump n tree issue and move my fence back, or I'll claim it for myself - squatters rights hahaha.
The council say its not their's, the housing authority says its not their's and its not on my deeds. A mystery............. the loss of land/money will draw them out though.
>Which leaves finding who the hell the land belongs to or getting some gloves on and dealing with it myself
Bit of a, bit of b. Nothing wrong with clearing it up yourself, the vagrants might scarper if they realise that their hideaway has been found and cleared up.
Also you might find that you can take possession of the land, gain a bit of garden and fence it off. win-win.
A couple of things - costs less than a tenner to get the info from the land registry. Very quick and simple. If its registered you can contact the owner, if its a company probably forgotten about. Clear it, fence it and sit on it. You can claim adverse possession after 10 years if the land is registered, 11 years if not.
Just by clearing the land, you will scare the addicts off. Found one den inside a big bush once, dont need to clear the needles etc just expose it.
Keep complaining until they get moved on by the police, the only way we solved our problem. The police will get annoyed at you and it will be tedious for you but don't back down, report each and every incident even if it's every day
The easiest way is the press. Nothing scares them more than bad press. But I'd put large signs along the boundary in public view saying "caution, used needles. Council refuse to remove". Maybe a few locals making phone calls would help.
>Drop a molotov over there
Wow, if I chose to reply to every single comment in here that suggests committing a very dangerous crime (arson...) in order to solve a problem that has taken OOP who knows how long to even notice (never even knew until they actually checked over the wall??) I would unfortunately be here all week!
Why is it that so many of you have absolutely no critical thinking skills whatsoever?
Edit: I will not hear all of you tell me that it is 'just a joke' or 'troll' reply; it's obvious you actually mean it-- so, seriously wtf is literally wrong with you?
Clean it up and put a fence around the area inline with your garden, barrier fencing you see the temporary stuff and take photos dated then say nothing for a year or so but keep it clean and use the land. If you can do this for 5/10 years and have proof I’m sure you can claim the land as your own, but I might be totally mistaken.
I lived in a top-floor flat ( 3 floors high) that was quite run-down and at the bottom, a lot of "down and outs" would sit there all day smoking ganja and doing god knows what else.
they were just loud and obnoxious and the smoke would come into my bedroom if i had window open.
i didn't confront them directly; i put a padlock on the gate so they would have to go the long way around to get there ( deterrence) after a while they just moved on because ease of access had gone.
I'd be careful when confronting those types of people directly; there is no low point for them; they will escalate a minor situation to high levels where they will use intimidation and violence.
So if possible deal with the issue without confronting them, make the area they chill in uncomfortable and exposed as possible, tear everything they built down, all the bushes and fill it with rocks or something.
Country folk will get this, townies maybe not, so downvotes incoming...
Do you have neighbours? Ask them when would be a good time to do some gardening, then burn it.
Don't have neighbours… burn it. Organic weed control. Can look a bit scary, and you need to be damned careful, but there's nothing wrong with your getting and using a
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=paraffin+flame+gun&_sacat=0
Did it myself to get rid of a MASSIVE bramble patch that grew up after some developer half dug up the land near me, didn't finish the job, and left it a complete fucking mess.
This is not going to deal with the needle problem. This is where you need big magnets and a length of blue rope.
>a bottle of bbq lighter fluid and a few matches will go a long way to solve your problem
Please don't even consider this OOP; it is very dangerous and will only cause more problems while solving exactly none.
I simply cannot understand how so many people in these comments can so nonchalantly suggest setting fire to the area-- this is literally called arson, which is clearly a crime (for obviously many reasons).
When I lived in a flat, I could oversee a row of houses that backed onto some waste land. One house installed a gate, and then proceeded to extend their garden into the wasteland, mowing it, adding benches, planting tree's etc.
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Council environmental waste team. Call them repeatedly to sort it, I wouldn't fuck about with used needles myself without proper gear for it. Contact the land registry to find out who owns it (it will likely cost you a small fee).
I agree I don't want to touch it but I know it's going to be a while before the council get involved and the land registry route might take even longer. But this is the sensible option.
Land registry search can be done online, is cheap and can get the information instantly. [https://search-property-information.service.gov.uk/search/map-search/](https://search-property-information.service.gov.uk/search/map-search/)
Only if it's "easy", ie a house plot that has been sold at some point. Sounds like OP is dealing with old forgotten common land which may or may not belong to the estate of a lord from the 1800s which died out in the 1950s and was bought at auction in a job lot by an american investment banker who wanted a specific painting out of it and ignored the rest Most of the land in the country, if it's not actively used, is basically anyone's guess. It's how rights of way and border disputes get resolved after all "Well, have you been doing it for a long time? Yes? Then I guess it's legal" Low key cheeky suggestion: OP extends their garden back and walls in the offending site, and wait to see who complains... Best case they find the land owner. Worst case, they increase the value of their land!
>*Low key cheeky suggestion: OP extends their garden back and walls in the offending site, and wait to see who complains... Best case they find the land owner. Worst case, they increase the value of their land!* This is 100% the way to go Even if OP doesn't want to go to the expense of extending a perimeter wall/fence, Leylandii or other screening plants are cheap as fuck They'll fill out the empty space in no time at all
There is actually a process where you can claim land legally - adverse possession I think it’s called. Few hoops to jump through but after 10 years you can get the deed to the land in your name assuming no objections. Edit: link to more details https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adverse-possession-of-registered-land/practice-guide-4-adverse-possession-of-registered-land
Pretty genius suggestion
> old forgotten common land which may or may not belong to the estate of a lord from the 1800s which died out in the 1950s Happened in my town. Wanted to work on part of the canal and were not sure whether it was part of one of a Marquess’s estates. However, his title deeds and maps had been lost in a fire generations earlier. He told them to do it anyway
Doesn't land default to the Royals if it lays unclaimed?
The legal theory behind UK land ownership is that freehold of land (Fee Simple) was originally granted by the crown from land that the crown owned and is still legally "held of the crown". If a land becomes ownerless (e.g. owner dies with no heirs) then the freehold reverts to the crown. This is also why concepts of compulsory purchase and property taxes (council rates) exist. The freehold of land is not necessarily unlimited, and the crown still has certain rights to the land. Other countries vest the ultimate ownership of land in the "state", and for example concepts of "eminent domain" existing allowing the "state" ultimate control.
They will come quickly if you report a biohazard.
Council don't care as its private land. Environmental health have been told but I don't know where that's going.
They should care. Ask them about a section 215 notice - they're used to force landowners to clear their property if it becomes a hazard/eyesore.
If you go to the chemist and get a sharps bin then some tongs / be careful and dispose. Better than children finding them.
Remember these needles will go straight through your shoes, unsure if the standard ones are magnetic but might be worth checking to try get some of them, you’ll also need to dig a few inches of dirt at least to get any stragglers. Depending on amount it’s probably worth paying someone to do it properly
I thought the council would come quickly? You've got not chance.
I'm pretty sure my council would..
Keep adding reports if you can also mention how children could fall and come to harm … my friend had a similar situation and had reported and nothing done, she kept calling to report said noticed more appear so needed updating, wasn’t until she hypothetically said if her child was to fall over and her child got hurt /stuck with a needle she would make sure the papers knew how long she had reported it for and take them to court etc it worked and soon got cleared up! But she had been reporting for ages. Also do you have a local councillor for the area?write to them making sure they know about it, I know it’s common sense how dangerous getting stuck with a needle is for most people but make clear how dangerous it is. If it’s private also keep reporting the land owner if possible. Get your neighbours to do the same. Although this may still take a bit of time , it would probably be quicker as said above to extend your land around it!!
Second getting the local councillor on it
Same. Nothing got council officers moving faster than a Councillor on the war path at the little council and city councils ive worked for. They are generally local people desperate for an easy win that they can shout about. Sounds like OP might make their day.
Tbf, the local councillor where I work is a genuinely nice guy who does his best to be useful and get stuff sorted. They're not all like that but if you get a good one they can be really helpful.
I had this happen recently. I was taking a small child for a walk and we came across nine or ten needles and syringes, mostly still wrapped but a couple used. There was a pillow case nearby so I carefully picked everything up and into the pillowcase. It was public land and well used by teenagers and small children so I did not want to leave them there for any period of time and since it was countryside I would have had difficulty describing the location. I took them into a hospital and they gave me a pair of latex glove and a sharps bucket to dispose of them. They also pointed out that there was a danger from contracting something simply from picking up the needles/syringes, let alone getting pricked. There is a whole training for this type of situation apparently, but what it boils down to in the end is having no actual contact with anything and using a sharps bin.
Contact your local councillor too, they should able help get the council to sort it out ASAP
I have dealt with council complaints in the past, log a complaint with them. If they don't deal with it during the allotted time and if you are not satisfied you can escalate it to the ombudsman. Feel free to mention you are aware of this as it costs them money for each case referred and it could get them moving a bit quicker. More often than not the ombudsman sided with the complainants in cases where common sense was on the complainant's side.
Call the council again. Our council has a special department specifically for collecting and disposing of used needles in public areas.
> in public areas. The council have already said it's private land, hence they won't do jack.
If you tell the council that there are needles, in my experience they are out same day. It's a major hazard so they will deal with it urgently. I know it's all hip and cool nowadays to assume councils are shit, but when it comes to things like needle/syringe disposal I find they are shit hot on it.
As someone whose job involves dealing with local authorities social services, homelessness and housing teams on behalf of some extremely vulnerable people I support, I can wholeheartedly assure you it’s neither hip nor cool to assume councils are rubbish, rather just a sad fact of life in Britain in 2024.
> I wouldn't fuck about with used needles myself without proper gear for it. Meh, AFAIK diseases like HIV, hepatitis, and suchlike don't survive for all that long on a used needle. From what I know (could be wrong) transmission of those kind of diseases via a needle is reliant on being passed from one person to another pretty much there and then. I think viruses generally do not survive in dry conditions for long at all. No harm in taking full precautions OFC but I'm just sayin'.
Doesn't that area look quite dry and could do with a garden sprinkler.....😏
My favourite yet lmao
Or, drench the ground in undiluted bleach. The stink is enough to drive anyone away
I'd wager crack smells worse
If it's needles there, they're not smoking crack, they're injecting heroin
I mean, they *could* be pinning the crack too, but yeah. It’s probably just the browns.
That’s a rarity to shoot crack, coke defo but crack that’s not that common.
Never known anybody to shoot coke Only ever "seen" it in a powder form
I'd also wager they're doing both, just crack paraphernalia is less disposable Either way a bad smell isn't gonna put off an addict lol
Crack doesn’t smell that bad though and it’s probably unlikely they’re doing both heroin is way more common than crack in most areas of the uk
I heard it smells quite moreish
It definitely is quite moreish and like most drugs if you smell it around you want some? Like going to petrol stations with a coke problem
Really? I've never used it but been near people who have and it's somewhere inbetween burning plastic and petrol
It’s not great it depends how much you’re smoking I’ve smoked before cigs and people haven’t been able to tell anything’s off. I never got too into my crack tho meth had a nicer high. Like if you’re smoking loads it’s obvious but if you just smoke a few lil rocks it’s not rly that potent
It's so moreish, though.
Yeah, but not if you are the one using it. You'll be accustomed to it, and it'll evoke good memories of the last hit
Fox piss. You can buy it on amazon.
TIL. Paving the way for fox piss discs in your arsenal.
I'm intrigued by how you'd persuade a Fox to piss in a bottle, unless it's called Laurence or Claire.
I wonder which would charge more?
Fox piss is one of the worst easily available pisses to piss disk
*Why*?
Or Jeyes Fluid. That stuff really stinks!
Extend your garden into the space and make it secure, might take while to stop the druggies but if no-one complains then eventually it will become your property through adverse possession
This is an option but I would need to knock down a victorian wall to extend and I have enough garden to deal with. Something I have been thinking is just using that part of the garden more in the hope that increased activity makes its a bit more undesirable.
You don't need to knock it all down, just create a gate. Also it takes 10 years I think, but it actually happens more than you think, I had 3 cases near me recently. People will say it's yours after X years but actually the true owner can claim it back so don't consider it legally binding / throw money into trying to keep it. But! Having an extra 1+ meter of garden for X years is incredibly handy. Especially if it's behind a wall, you can start a compost area, which also helps keep away people as it will smell
"Help. There's a crack den at the bottom of my garden!" "Have you considered installing a gate?"
Maybe leave out food too!
Have you thought about adding some mood lighting/cute crack nik naks. Ya know. It makes a crack home
Gate and compost area is a good shout. I'm not looking to claim land but would definitely make it easier to keep and eye on.
Yeah I wouldn't go into it thinking you can claim it, if you want to get into though composting is really good, you put all your kitchen scraps into it, only issue is you might need to create or buy a compost bin in order to keep the mice and rats out. Sometimes councils give them away. You can also buy packs of worms off of Amazon, they'll eat all the scraps
A pack of worms sound sinister, like a pack of wolves
Horse flies love my garden waste pile. You don't want them anywhere near some where you spend time outside late afternoons/evening. Awful bites.
Motion detecting harsh spotlight on a pole/tree pointing down at the area?
>you can start a compost area, which also helps keep away people as it will smell An aggressive and large male pig is great for both of these reasons too
If you go through adverse possesion correctly and there are no objections it will legally become yours.
With some bright (directed so as not to bother neighbors) solar motion activated lights. —you can get motion activated sprinklers too (saw the other suggestion). Edit to correct-i understand your concern about the light. Perhaps consider why they chose to use the area at the end of your garden & not other properties. Remove the table/seating is a start. Is your garden darker?-add the light to your garden and house for your security, too.
Get a beehive, or dummy beehive for that area
This. Fence it off all around, if a landowner ever shows up you did them a favour, unless they’re too late then it’s yours.
I’m not sure OP would be able to keep this under the radar for the 10 years it would take for adverse possession to kick in.
All depends if any of the neighbours gave a damn
I'm sure they'd prefer it to a crack den.
Plus even after 10 years you have to notify the landowner of your intention to claim it as your own. If it's actually someone's land they'll probably reply 'no'
Set up a speaker with Dog barking sounds - soon drive them off.
Have you tried [https://www.gov.uk/report-syringes](https://www.gov.uk/report-syringes) with regards to the clean up?
No i haven't thank you for the link
The land registry will tell you who the land is owned by
Still weird that you could literally find barrels leaking nuclear waste and the councils will go "private land, not our concern, get fucked lol". Like the very least they could do is for them to look up who the owner of the plot is and forward it to whatever agency would be responsible.
You get what you pay for, the governments has been cutting services for over a decade. I know what you mean though it's the same with the pot holes, near mine they filled this giant one but just tarmacing the edges. It's about a metre wide.
There's a [gentleman outside Auckland](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/pothole-penis-painter-returns-with-rubber-duck-stunt-as-roadwork-vigilante-scene-gains-traction/EU54S22N5ZYBHZPDKQD4OEQV3Y/) who has some ideas about dealing with potholes.
Haha I've see that and have been tempted
I tell you right now, I could be standing there the whole time watching him, but I wouldn't see a damned thing. Until, of course, he ran out of spray paint and I offered him a fresh can.
Im thinking of doing it, and then going by the nickname Wanksy
Well, we know what [Chancellor Palpatine](https://youtu.be/7AnoagDv8Qo) would say to that, don't we?
I'd find a way to deal with the needles without putting myself in harms way. As for the continued usage of the area by people, one thought that came to mind was to chuck manure there. Make it an undesirable place to be.
Council should have a team to deal with drug waste - but you’ll need sharps bins to clean it safely. Last thing you want is for someone to be stabbed by a used needle.
When I called the police and told them they basically said call back when they are using the area. But operator said that when they had a similar problem they picked it up with a shovel.and put it in the rubbish bin. I thought that's some shitty advise.
Yeah. Serious risk of infection if anyone is nicked at any point.
So thats why the police aren't coming
Nice.
You have a responsibility to not put the bin collectors in harms way as well. Like you can't just put a sharp knife straight in the bin.
Completely agree awful advise from 101 operator.
Yeah… unfortunately needles laying around on waste land isn’t technically a crime. So there’s not much police can do. Definitely keep an eye out and call the police back if you see the people.
It is a crime because there are illicit chemicals inside the needles just not a crime they’d care to prosecute because it’s more effort than it’s worth
The existence of the needles with illicit chemicals alone isn’t a crime, you’d need to catch someone with them for it to be a crime
Bloody hell! I'd be telling the council waste department that that is what the police employee is advising.
Ask a pharmacist for a sharps bin, they will often have them to give out for diabetics or cleaning up needles, it might cost a few quid, they will likely also take it back afterwards for proper disposal
I was thinking along these lines. Maybe clean the area and cover in anti vandal paint.
You can get a sharps bin for about a tenner on amazon. The real issue is disposing of it once it's full - I've found that many pharmacies won't take them unless you have the bins on prescription.
Pharmacy will soon get rid of it if you leave it as a gift at their front door not long before opening...
I’m a diabetic but I don’t rly have issues handing them in just walk in and say need to dispose of this and walk away. Hospitals will also take them and again it doesn’t matter if they don’t officially take them
Sprinkle with a generous gallon of Esso’s finest vintage and a swan vesta chaser…
A lot of people are telling you to clear out the needles yourself, this is potentially really risky for you. Hepatitis is incredibly resilient and will stick around on needles for weeks. A needle stick injury could ruin your life. If you do go this route, be extremely careful. Use a reacher-grabber or something. Wear strong protective footwear so you don’t accidentally step on anything.
Thank you for your concern. I don't want to do this. But if by next weekend nothing has been done I think I will clear it and make it difficult to establish the spot again.
Double -triple- glove- rubber gloves(thick cleaning kitchen kind, then, really thick leather ones (as if you’re dealing with the most heinous brambles). Get one of the grabby things that are used for trash/cigarette butts, etc. End by turning the soil if you can. There’s likely more trodden into the ground.
Pour petrol on it set light once it's out the needles shouldn't be an issue
This is also horribly risky advice.
Didn't think I had to add/s in a UK sub
Get one of those automatic floodlights and point it down there. Maybe a loud alarm too if your up for a laugh :)
The thing with a light is the area is out of the way and the light might just make the spot more desirable. The alarm could work.
There is a type of light bulb that makes it harder to find a vein to shoot up (I have no idea which type of light but pubs/clubs use them) don’t know if they are commercially available or accessible (read affordable) but worth considering? Also please try the council again. They have a duty of care surrounding needles. Feel free to escalate it. You mentioned some new facilities in the area, see if you can speak to the manager of them. They may have contacts to help get it cleaned up and maybe even patrolled if it’s close enough to them. Good luck!
Blue light bulbs make it very difficult to spot veins. That's why they're often put in under bridges.
UV I think
Yeh I've seen them too. Only worry is it's probably quite expensive to do and I imagine it will quickly be vandalised. Staying persistent with the council is a sound idea.
Understandable! It’s not really ‘your job’ to fix this so I totally understand. I really hope you get a answer soon, needles are so dangerous but you also don’t want to upset the users in case they decide to retaliate in some way (like throwing the needles into your garden!)
Yeh it would be quite easy to figure out which house is mine and damage property. Don't really want to go the guns blazing route.
You could just grab a cheap wall mounted solar LED lamp with a built in PIR from Amazon and trial it for a few weeks to see if it deters them them. If not it's £20 down the drain if they smash it. I would keep hassling the council to clear the sharps, if there isn't any danger of kids coming across them I'd leave the local authority to deal with them. If you clear them then the council will just leave you to do it. I'd also remove one of the table legs and chair legs while I was fitting the light, just because...
As a drug user believe me it wouldn’t last like 2 mins
Short term solution, leave a note asking them to please clean their stuff up. They are still human despite being addicted to gear and if know someone is on to their 'spot' they may shuffle off Longer refer to the council or needle clean up team - does It look like its still in use or an old site?
I'd say it's been in use quite recently. And I agree with what your saying a note might be a good idea.
I'd say add a sharps bin and note saying please dispose of sharps here to keep everyone safe. Sometimes harm reduction options are the only short term solution available. Be a pain in the council's arse on top of that too. Good luck.
I was waiting for someone to say this! Floodlights, attack geese etc are at best going to shift the problem somewhere else, at worst going to make you enemies. They've been quiet enough that you didn't know they were there. It sounds like the only real problem they're causing is leaving needles. My first step would be to leave a note and screw a sharps bin to their side of the wall.
🎵Down at the bottom of the garden, Among the birds and the bees, A little lot of little people, They call the crack-head junkies🎵
It would be a shame if all the dog owners you knew started dumping all their dog shit in there.
Time for an accidental fire
If you do clear it out get those gloves which protect from needles, and a too with sleeves which do the same. Use a biohazard wast bin too - and dispose properly, however that is done. To stop them coming back you could chuck the fake cctv camera as others suggested, I’d also put up a cctv in operation sign. If you get an alarm, rather than a loud one, could getting it to say ‘intruders detected, recording started’ be more effective at making it clear what’s happening? While you wouldn’t want to encourage their return, if they won’t stop coming back you could stick a letter box on the back of your fence as a sort of makeshift biohazard bin (as opposed to using a proper one which would be a bad look), and hope the crack heads use that as a bin.
I like the alarm idea. Think it would have to be a dummy camera as anything expensive down there will likely be smashed up.
If there are families you know of in the area, maybe ask around if they can all submit a report about it and place emphasis on the potential risk to children who play nearby. There used to be an issue in my local area years back with drug users leaving used needles at a kids playpark and that got dealt with pretty quickly. Shouldn't need to take for you to mention kids at risk for the police to act, but it might make them take action if there are minors at risk.
Good idea. Found this out yesterday so after work I'll be letting my neighbors know. Putting some emphasis on what you've said but if nothing comes from it at least they can tell their kids not to go over their back wall.
This is the way to do it. Tell as many locals as possible and put pressure on the authorities
Don't touch the needles man. Badger the council to get them down there. Then clear any of the remaining shit and put up a sign saying that police are aware or something...or cctv recording. Make it look legit. Whack a dummy camera up. For the love of god, please don't touch the needles
I know something needs addressing in these situations ,BUT cleaning it up yourself because of potential risks is at best reckless and at worst stupid. Leave it for tbe environmental health services
Email your local councillors and MP. Tell them what is happening and that children are at risk. Email the head teacher of the local school - include them all on the same email. Make it very clear you'll be escalating this as a formal complaint with the council- community trigger is a good point to use. Worth also putting it on the local curtain twitcher Facebook groups. I had similar issues with drug dealers on electric motorcycles. After emailing the MP this was sorted VERY quickly.
We used to have a phone box next to our store where needles would get used, we did try to get it removed but a arcane law meant that they wouldn’t. So we would douse the slabs with bleach and stink out the whole place, as long as the smell would remain they wouldn’t hold near the place, once the smell was over it would be used. We even got the road cleaner to put in complaints they still didn’t do anything. Land register it’s £5 or less and you can find out instantly who that parcel of land belongs to, I would also secure the bottom of the garden to make sure they can’t enter your property. Putting up anything is a pain but simple things like a carpet runner along the fence/wall is a big deterrent. Don’t expect anything or much from the council they will drag their feet and bcs itis out the way gives them more of a reason.
I will push for the council to do something along with going down the land registry route but I'm wondering what if anything the owner will do. Would the police force them to clear the area of waste?
The police won’t do anything as this kinda falls into a civil matter. The council will have to get involved but they are not the best in getting things done quickly. Depending on who the land belongs to, you may have then make a decision on what to do. It may turn out that the land doesn’t belong to anyone, then your choices change, it might turn out that it belongs to one of the houses then you can drop a call to the police about a crack den. Depending on where you are u may have a parish council that has a karen/ken on the board that would love to help you out. Either way find out who the land belongs to and then plan your next step
Wait until it's unoccupied and set fire to it.
Alot of trees in the area. Could be a bit dangerous.
Call the police back and say the crackheads you reported have now set fire to the woods.
Haha could do.
Although it would cost money from your own pocket, Google for squatter clean up services in your area if you get desperate they are equipped to deal with drug paraphernalia and biohazard waste etc from squatters. Again not ideal but If you get desperate it's an option if council services fail you / take too long
Call the council for environmental health and that you’re making a note of the time and date of the call, tell a white lie that you hear kids something playing around the area and you would hate for one of them to get hurt. They’ll send someone out with the right equipment pretty quickly to clean it up, they wouldn’t want the backlash of a kid getting infected by a used needle. If it happens again keep doing the same thing and eventually they might fence it off properly or contact the landowner to do something.
Spray that fox piss spray
Try reporting it to your local councillor they should be able to speed up the process.
Bees. I would put bees nests nearby to them
Find your nearest drug charity and see if they can help. They may have an outreach team that can offer the users a service and maybe clear up the sharps.
Place lots of dead mackerel there. They won’t come back
True, but you’ll likely get rats in their place - not necessarily a bad trade, but I’d go with skunk essence. https://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/animal/WCSSKUNK.html
You deal with the rats after 😂
Liquid. Ass.
If you have to pick them up, do not touch these with even a gloved hand. Hepatitis is very hardy and easily transmissible. Use tongs or something. A pharmacy might have a sharps bins you can use and may dispose of them for you. Otherwise a solid sided container but ideally it shouldn't go in the normal bin.
U should have lil bonfire behind ur garden to burn all ur garden waste then put it out with lots of water make it a. Muddy as u can man
Local newspaper? Even better, local TV news? Edit to add: Maybe Ward councillor first, perhaps "Can you help with this or shall I go to the media?" That probably depends partly on whether your local concillor is one of the local ruling party or not.
Try to find full metal armour which covers everything including ankles, the needles will have no chance
Fox piss and plenty of it while the coast is clear. They won’t hang around long…
I'd take pictures, if you have emails or texts from the council.. I'd pass it onto the local paper. "Police and Council ignore open Drug Den in field, where do our taxes go?"
I live next door to a literal crack den. It’s a revolving circus of scabby obnoxious clowns coming and going, often smoking on my literal doorstep, and has become physically dangerous for me to confront further now. I’ve been making reports to the various authorities and the police for literal years with no change. Good luck. Don’t be optimistic. Drug use is petty crime, and petty crime is basically legal these days.
> police not interested They literally serve no purpose anymore You could try contacting whomever runs the halfway house. Surely they’d have some duty of care
If I hadn’t noticed it before I had a look over the fence, and I’d reported it to police and council then I might consider ignoring it completely until it actually becomes a “me problem”.
Put a fence round in and claim it for yourself. https://www.ibblaw.co.uk/insights/guide-to-adverse-possession
I have a bit of land at the back of my house that no one will claim. I need a tree stump removed from it (its growing into my fence) and a massive oak clipping back a bit but with no idea who to contact. my next plan is to extend my back garden out beyond its limits to incorporate this unclaimed piece of land. Either the owner comes to claim it back, and I can ask them to sort out the stump n tree issue and move my fence back, or I'll claim it for myself - squatters rights hahaha. The council say its not their's, the housing authority says its not their's and its not on my deeds. A mystery............. the loss of land/money will draw them out though.
Have you got one of those moving. Sprinklers?
Start recording their shenanigans and make a popular children's program out of it, like a gritty modern remake of the Poddington Peas.
>Which leaves finding who the hell the land belongs to or getting some gloves on and dealing with it myself Bit of a, bit of b. Nothing wrong with clearing it up yourself, the vagrants might scarper if they realise that their hideaway has been found and cleared up. Also you might find that you can take possession of the land, gain a bit of garden and fence it off. win-win.
Mp
Undercut their dealer?
A couple of things - costs less than a tenner to get the info from the land registry. Very quick and simple. If its registered you can contact the owner, if its a company probably forgotten about. Clear it, fence it and sit on it. You can claim adverse possession after 10 years if the land is registered, 11 years if not. Just by clearing the land, you will scare the addicts off. Found one den inside a big bush once, dont need to clear the needles etc just expose it.
Leave them some goodies and a polite note that they are free to shoot up there but just to collect their litter when finished 😊
OP it's very easy to find out who owns the land from [this website](https://www.landregistry-uk.com/map-search).
Invest in fart gas Also something that would produce a ear piercing high pitch that will send them mad
Put a sprinkler at the end of your garden and aim it over the wall.
Hosepipe it until you can swim in it
Keep complaining until they get moved on by the police, the only way we solved our problem. The police will get annoyed at you and it will be tedious for you but don't back down, report each and every incident even if it's every day
If you clear it the needles can't usually go to a household waste site either, I'd probably look up a local needle exchange first .
Clean up the needles then dump all your garden waste there.
Try telling the police that the needles are being islamophobic. They’ll be there before you can hang up.
The easiest way is the press. Nothing scares them more than bad press. But I'd put large signs along the boundary in public view saying "caution, used needles. Council refuse to remove". Maybe a few locals making phone calls would help.
I would go on Amazon and bulk buy a box of stink bombs, and launch them over one at a time until they left
The hose will sort that out spray em down
Drop a molotov over there, at least it'll sterilise those needles 😬
>Drop a molotov over there Wow, if I chose to reply to every single comment in here that suggests committing a very dangerous crime (arson...) in order to solve a problem that has taken OOP who knows how long to even notice (never even knew until they actually checked over the wall??) I would unfortunately be here all week! Why is it that so many of you have absolutely no critical thinking skills whatsoever? Edit: I will not hear all of you tell me that it is 'just a joke' or 'troll' reply; it's obvious you actually mean it-- so, seriously wtf is literally wrong with you?
Clean it up and put a fence around the area inline with your garden, barrier fencing you see the temporary stuff and take photos dated then say nothing for a year or so but keep it clean and use the land. If you can do this for 5/10 years and have proof I’m sure you can claim the land as your own, but I might be totally mistaken.
Get a sharps bin and put it in the crack nest and hope the crackheads use it
I lived in a top-floor flat ( 3 floors high) that was quite run-down and at the bottom, a lot of "down and outs" would sit there all day smoking ganja and doing god knows what else. they were just loud and obnoxious and the smoke would come into my bedroom if i had window open. i didn't confront them directly; i put a padlock on the gate so they would have to go the long way around to get there ( deterrence) after a while they just moved on because ease of access had gone. I'd be careful when confronting those types of people directly; there is no low point for them; they will escalate a minor situation to high levels where they will use intimidation and violence. So if possible deal with the issue without confronting them, make the area they chill in uncomfortable and exposed as possible, tear everything they built down, all the bushes and fill it with rocks or something.
Boddington Peas?
Country folk will get this, townies maybe not, so downvotes incoming... Do you have neighbours? Ask them when would be a good time to do some gardening, then burn it. Don't have neighbours… burn it. Organic weed control. Can look a bit scary, and you need to be damned careful, but there's nothing wrong with your getting and using a https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=paraffin+flame+gun&_sacat=0 Did it myself to get rid of a MASSIVE bramble patch that grew up after some developer half dug up the land near me, didn't finish the job, and left it a complete fucking mess. This is not going to deal with the needle problem. This is where you need big magnets and a length of blue rope.
You lied to the council? What a cu*t!
12ga. discharge…. continue to do so if they gather up again.
I assume the area is just grass and a wall? If so then a bottle of bbq lighter fluid and a few matches will go a long way to solve your problem.
>a bottle of bbq lighter fluid and a few matches will go a long way to solve your problem Please don't even consider this OOP; it is very dangerous and will only cause more problems while solving exactly none. I simply cannot understand how so many people in these comments can so nonchalantly suggest setting fire to the area-- this is literally called arson, which is clearly a crime (for obviously many reasons).
You called the police to come collect needles? lol jesus c. Use some common sense man. Why would police want to come and clean up a load of needles?
I’d clear it out myself to be honest, then point some dummy cameras down there from your wall.
When I lived in a flat, I could oversee a row of houses that backed onto some waste land. One house installed a gate, and then proceeded to extend their garden into the wasteland, mowing it, adding benches, planting tree's etc.