DIRTY syringes have been found littering the ground in a Barrhead park by local school pupils.

The safety of Carlibar Park has been thrown into doubt following the discovery, which was made on Sunday afternoon by two school friends.

The pals were walking through the woods near the burn at around 3pm when they uncovered a number of used needles and other drugs paraphernalia among the fallen leaves.

One 12-year-old told the Barrhead News: “We were walking through the forested area and we found these syringes with orange stuff inside them and spoons that looked like they’d been used with them.

“We knew it was drugs, so the first thing we wanted to do was get away from them. It was scary.

“But I think it’s quite an important story, so  I took a photo and then we called the police.

“There was a lot of them. I didn’t get them all in the photo. There was one big syringe and one small one, three cases full of needles and then two spoons.”

The youngsters contacted the police, who in turn passed the call on to the council’s community wardens.

A short time later, the wardens arrived on the scene to gather the needles and disposed of them safely.

Councillor Paul Aitken called for better security at the park following the ‘shocking and disgusting’ discovery, which follows a number of worrying incidents at the park in recent months.

He said: “I have raised concerns before about the state of neglect of Carlibar Park. 

“This latest issue of dirty needles lying in the park is shocking and disgusting. It follows the open manhole complaint and the evidence that the park had been used as a drinking den. 

“I would call upon the council to introduce extensive bright lighting and tighter security measures to protect Barrhead children.”

East Renfrewshire Council defended its approach to safety at its parks. 

A spokesperson said: “We work extremely hard to maintain all of our parks to a high standard, which is reflected in our residents 91per cent satisfaction with the greenspaces in the area. 

“All our parks are regularly litter picked to ensure they remain as clean and tidy as possible. 

“Our community safety officers work closely with the police to clamp down on anti-social behaviour and are aware of recent issues in this area, so have increased patrols. As part of our regular clean-ups of the park the area has already been cleared.”