SOME are left lying in the middle of roads. Others are strewn carelessly into public parks and over fences into children's playgrounds.

They are left in the grounds of schools, dumped on playing fields and thrown into bushes and gardens. They are all around us and most of the time they are very difficult to see.

But wherever they are, the dangers they pose are very real. They are the most lethal form of litter.

In the past twelve months, Bolton Council's Sharps unit has collected 3,800 used syringes, all posing potentially serious health risks, from across Bolton.

In the five years that the Sharps response team have existed, they have been called out around more than 4,000 times to collect up to 12,000 dumped syringes.

And the leaders of the team openly admit they fear the problems are getting worse.

The staggering number of syringes they are discovering carelessly abandoned by their unthinking users also offers a unique insight into the widespread scale of Bolton's Class A drugs problem.

"When you stop to think about it, the numbers we discover are very high indeed," said security manager Dave Patterson, responsible for the 24-strong Sharps team.

"I do not think that people realise at just what scale this problem has reached. It is very serious business.

"It is not the most thrilling job, but it is very important and there is a great need for us to be out there. Just looking at the figures proves that."

The team is based in an office deep in the bowels of Bolton Town Hall.

Calls to the Sharps hotline -- a regal-looking red phone placed between two black handsets in the department's offices -- are continuous -- 24 hours a day.

At 10am in the team's busy office one call to the hotline was no different than any other. The caller complained that a syringe was lying in bushes in scrubland by the side of a children's nursery in Mowbray Street, off Chorley Old Road, Bolton.

But it is not the first incident of the day. Four other dumped syringes have already been reported, despite the fact that Bolton Council run extensive needle exchange services.

Mr Patterson added: "It has built up over the years into a very busy service as people do leave needles lying around. Our aim is to pick sharps up within two hours of them being reported -- 24 hours a day.

"But if someone rings to say that they are in a place where children are playing, we will do it as an emergency. We will get there as quickly as we can."

"Obviously we are dealing with very dangerous pieces of equipment here. People actually phone us and say that they have marked the area where the sharp is by placing a tin can over it or a paper cup, which is a great help."

"People do take it very seriously. And the figures represent the sharps that we have actually picked up. I am sure that there are a lot more just waiting to be found."

Shaun Cross, aged 43, a security guard who has been working for the unit for five years, is called to the scene of the 10am call. He reports a vast increase in jobs over recent years -- blamed partly on the success of the unit in publicising itself.

He points to Deane and The Haulgh as problem areas. Police also refer sites to the team.

Mr Cross said: "Some days it will be fairly quiet but on other days there will be 20 calls or even more.

"The people who dump the syringes do not seem to care and that is the shocking thing. They have no remorse. I think part of the problem is that people know that they will be picked up.

"Sometimes we pick up needles which are full of blood. People also think that it is an easy job."

"We went to a job on Bradford Street in the Haulgh and a prostitute was being beaten up in front of our eyes. We ended up putting her in the back of the van until the police came.

"We have had cases where children have picked them up and taken them home to show their mums.

"Once, a dog actually bit a syringe and was chewing it in its mouth. It was quite a large sharp as well.

"We advised the owner to take it to the vets and I think it was alright in the end. There is also quite a strong percentage left in schools and playgrounds."

Mr Cross picks three syringes up with special tweezers, wearing £200-a-time, leather safety gloves.

They are put into a special bucket then taken to a holding fridge at the headquarters of Bolton Council's Commercial Services department in Wellington Street, Bolton.

The fridge is filled with bags full of needles and syringes.

Eventually, they are burned at the clinical waste incinerator at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

Safety, though, is always a main concern. Mr Patterson said that the biggest risk associated with jabbing a finger on a used needle is catching Tetanus or Hepatitis B, not Aids. It is a preconception many people hold, he said.

Staff are given precautionary Hepatitis B injections on a regular basis.

Mr Patterson added "Unless you wear a suit of armour then there will always be a slight risk.

"We have been to places where substances have actually been still in the needles.

"We have also picked up packets of needles that have been unused, suggesting they have been stolen. It is a risky business but everyone does a great job."

Under the 1990 Environmental Protection Act, anybody dropping litter can be fined a maximum of £2,500. And dropping syringes is no exception.

The Sharps hotline number -- funded by Bolton Council's Environmental department and Bolton's Primary Health Care Trust -- is 0800 7319835.