Campaigners and local residents were out in force on Sunday to take action against the scourge of dangerous waste being left by users of ‘legal highs’ and to raise awareness of the growing menace. Prospective Conservative MP for Taunton Deane Rebecca Pow, joined local residents on a special Police Community Day to clear Taunton’s parks of traces of legal highs. A fantastic turnout bolstered a team that comprised of members of the South West Action Group (S.W.A.G.) who are campaigning against legal highs and councillors, who scoured Victoria and Vivary Parks and Goodland Gardens on a day-long search. 

Rebecca said: ‘There was tremendous support for this clean up and it shows just how strong the opposition is to these dreadful substances.  I was quite sickened to find needles thrown under benches and into bushes and the undergrowth. They are plaguing places regularly frequented by our children. A shocking 420 needles were discovered during just this one day alone. They are dangerous, pose a risk to our childrens’ health are indicative of the enormity of the problem.

“We absolutely must deal with this appalling blight not just on Taunton but on Wellington too where needles are also being found in public places. I am continuing to raise the issue with the local council and to work with the Police. Furthermore, I’ll be continuing to push the Home Secretary, whom I presented a letter to recently, for clear guidance on addressing the problem. It is also crucially important that we educate youngsters about the full dangers of these so called ‘legal’ products.“

Rebecca is fully supportive of S.W.A.G. and their work to combat the problem.  Nick Smith, Chairman of the group, lives in Wellington and has a daughter who was rushed to hospital after being pierced by a needle found in Victoria Park. He was exceptionally pleased with the turnout on Sunday.

He said:  “Taunton has a really bad experience with legal highs and we need to do something. But we’re not just focused on Taunton, we’ve found them in the park in Wellington and at Asda steps and in Longforth Road. We need to take action everywhere. The needle side is the heroin users but it’s also the synthetic substances that are more likely to be in the schools and we need an education programme on this to take to all schools.”