A WOODED area in a park that was ideal for children to make dens in was being used by drug addicts until a local councillor urged Worcester City Council to do something about it.

The area in Lansdowne Park, Worcester, was surrounded by shrubs and bushes, making it ideal for drug users to administer illegal substances without being seen. It was littered with syringes, phials and other drugs paraphernalia until city councillor Mark Bayliss asked the council to clean it up and cut the shrubs back.

Coun Bayliss said: "It was horrible. It was not just one needle, there were hundreds of bottles and needles and syringe wrappers. It must have been used countless times to get to that state.

"This place is just the sort of place where little children would make a den and my real concern is that children will be in and out of there."

Jenny Moore, aged 45, of nearby Abberley View, regularly brings her children to the park. She said: "I wish the teenagers who use the park were more responsible, they just do not think and leave bottles and litter on the floor."

Coun Bayliss wants to council to regularly check on the park to make sure the area does not fall back into the same state.

He also said it was not the answer to move drug users to another place.

He said: "We have got to get more serious about tackling drug takers in public places. All we are doing is moving them on. "We have to help these people get off drugs and make sure we prevent this health hazard."

PC Paul Green, local policing officer for the area, said: "The area has been used for drug dealing in the past, but officers ran an operation which led to the arrest and sentencing of the dealer.

"The area has been known to be used occasionally by recreational drug users, but officers regularly patrol the area to prevent this."

Ian Yates, parks and cemeteries manager for Worcester City Council, said: "We are working with the council to resolve the problem."