A Northfield mum who discovered a bag of used needles outside her home said they should have been cleared “straight away”.
Nikki McNicol claims she waited days for the “hundreds of needles” found outside her back door to be removed.
The Manor Walk resident said although she had seen needles before, this was the worst it had been.
Ms McNicol, who has lived at her home for four years, said: “That was the first time that it was that much. I’ve seen needles before or tin foil with stuff or white powder. But that was the worst.
“I was shocked because a lot of the needles didn’t have caps on them.
“I’ve got a nine-year-old, a seven-year-old and a three-year-old at home so it was scary for them because little ones you know, they can just quickly grab something before you know it. That was our worry.”
Tried to get help but ‘nobody listens’
She and another mum who lived in the block reported it to the council straight away. However they say they struggled to get through to the right team.
Ms McNicol said they ended up getting “angry” and calling the police as they felt the local authority was just putting them from “person to person”.
She said: “We’re more than angry but there’s nothing we can do. We try and try and try but you don’t get heard, nobody listens.
“Folk say they’re there to help but you just don’t get the help.
“But there’s nothing we can do apart from complain.
“The needles have gone now, eventually, but it took a fair time to get it away. It should have been done straight away.”
It ‘should have been a priority’
Her mum, Gillian Donald, said she hated that her daughter had to live at the property and said the needles were “dangerous”.
“I’ve got grandkids,” the 56-year-old said. “Obviously she wouldn’t let them out to play in the back when that was lying there but the youngest one, it just takes for her hand to slip out her mum’s hand and she could have been in amongst it.
“It’s just really sickened me and I don’t care where it happens, it shouldn’t happen.
“I know everyone is pushed workwise at the minute and everyone is understaffed but that should have been a priority.”
While both women said the needles took a few days to be removed, Aberdeen City Council said they were taken away on the day they received the report.
A spokeswoman said: “We can confirm we received a report about the needles, and they were collected on the same day.”
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