COUNCIL chiefs today promised to remove three syringes parents said had been left lying in bushes just 100 yards from a Bolton primary school for more than two months.

Angry Alison Shaw and Lorraine Lewarne feared a child could prick a finger on the used needles dumped near the entrance to the Spinners Mews flat complex in Schoolhill Road, Halliwell.

Mrs Lewarne, aged 26 of Pleasant Gardens and Miss Shaw, aged 22, of Davenport Road, both walk past the complex to take their children to nearby St Matthew's Primary School.

They said they had reported the problem to Bolton Council several times.

But a spokesman said that the council's dedicated Sharps unit had not been informed. Since last April 2002, a special hotline for reporting dumped needles has taken more than 800 calls.

Around 3,795 needles have been collected.

The Sharps hotline number is 0800 7319835.