A SYRINGE dumped inside her Blyth Street letterbox has shocked a Ravenswood retiree.
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Pat Cottrell, who lives in a group of Housing Tasmania units opposite Ravenswood Heights Primary School, said she was not the only resident who made the alarming finding on Wednesday afternoon.
After talking to her neighbours, she discovered that several more syringes had been deposited inside letterboxes at the same group of units.
``That's three or four syringes too many,'' Mrs Cottrell said.
``It hasn't happened before.
``We have a lot of vandalism of the cars in the car park, the biggest bugbear, and children on school holidays who egg the windows.''
The syringe was among junk mail in her letterbox, which added to the risk.
Mrs Cottrell, 75, asked police about how to safely dispose of the syringe, and police told her to call the Launceston City Council.
The cancer survivor, who had many injections after undergoing chemotherapy, said she was well aware of the dangers of syringes.
``It's nasty to think that someone goes around deliberately doing this,'' Mrs Cottrell said.
Council general manager Robert Dobrzynski said people reported finding syringes several times a year.
``If people find syringes in public spaces, they should contact the council and we will collect them,'' he said.
``In cases where syringes are located on private property, the property owner should contact a waste service provider to arrange collection.''
Mr Dobrzynski said council provided sharps disposal bins in most of its public toilets, while the Department of Health and Human Services had a list of 24-hour community sharps bins, and some chemists offered needle exchange programs.
Email: ctang@examiner.com.au