Shopping bag full of painkillers, tablets and other medical items dumped in Harborough countryside

A shopping bag full of painkillers, tablets and other medical items has been dumped in open countryside on the edge of Market Harborough.

The cache of 12 potentially dangerous packets of pills and other first aid paraphernalia was ditched in a hedgerow on a big new housing estate off Lubenham Hill.

The haul was scattered deep in undergrowth at the top of Corn Street after being emptied out of a Lidl plastic carrier bag.

The bag was left hanging high up in the hedge.

The mix of non-prescription medication is available to buy in chemist’s and high street stores.

Stacked up just inches away from a well-used walking trail, it’s believed to have been fly-tipped yesterday (Tuesday).

Former Harborough Mail reporter Red Williams made the discovery as he ran past the spot early this morning (Wednesday).

“I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“I saw the bag perched up in the hedge before spotting the mix of painkillers, tablets and other medical kit dumped on the ground,” said Red, of Market Harborough.

“The trail there at the top of the hill overlooks stunning countryside and a lot of people use it as they head off to Lubenham less than a mile away to the west.

“The whole area’s very popular with families, dog walkers and runners.

“What if children or teenagers had come across these strong painkillers and decided to take a few?

“The consequences don’t bear thinking about,” said the father-of-three.

“I don’t know what possesses people to go to the time and trouble to dump a bag full of tablets out in a public space when they should simply be binning them if they don’t want them.”

Most of the medication is still well within its expiry date.

The haul included two packs of cold and flu capsules, two packs of Co-codamol painkillers, two packs of Tesco hay fever and allergy relief tablets, one pack of Ibuprofen maximum strength painkillers, one pack of Nurofen, one pack of Piriton allergy tablets, one pack of Anadin tablets, one pack of Co-op plasters and a tube of Anthisan bite and sting cream.

Veteran eco-campaigner Peter Pollak told the Mail: “I’m disgusted by this.

“It beggars belief that the people who did this thought it was OK to litter our beautiful environment with this bag of painkillers and tablets rather than dispose of them safely and properly,” said Peter, who represents the Open Spaces Society, the UK’s oldest conservation body, in Harborough district.

“And it’s terrifying to think that children or young people, especially, could have easily stumbled across them and overdosed after taking too many.

“This is totally unacceptable and I’d appeal to the fools who did this never to do it again.”