Children waved used condoms at each other as their teachers hurriedly ushered them away from a pile of dirty needles during a recent clean-up of Helston’s streets.

This was the shocking story told by one councillor as members of Helston Town Council looked at claims of a drug problem on our streets.

Councillor Ronnie Williams was referring to an incident at the recent Helston Town Tidy before Flora Day, which included young scouts and brownies helping out.

He said: “With the picker they were picking up condoms and racing around with them. There were three at one stage chasing each other with condoms. It’s serious.

“I think the people with them saw needles as well.”

Mr Williams did not identify the specific location but said it was chosen for being away from traffic, although he added that at any future town tidy where young people were involved in the clear up “there will have to be selected areas they can go.”

His description followed a letter received by the council from resident Stephen Whatley, who claimed that he saw people “off their face” in the town “on a daily basis” and had found dirty used needs in Coronation Park, along with beer cans, broken glass and cigarette ends.

Mr Whatley met with councillors in person on Thursday, after being invited to join them to discuss the problem further.

He told them that only a few days earlier he had been walking near the scout hut in the King George V playing field and had found needles, beer cans with corroded sharp edges, broken glass and excrement.

“The worst case scenario is a child with a needle ends up with hepatitis B,” he said.

He and his wife then watched a man arrive with a bull terrier, let the dog carry out a bowel movement and then leave again immediately afterwards, without picking up the mess. Mr Whatley added that he had photos, which he was advised to pass to Cornwall Council and the dog warden.

He continued: “I’ve also seen people on many, many occasions clearly under the influence. Not the drunken stagger we have had [in town] for many years, but people bouncing along wide-eyed. Other residents have also expressed concern with a strong smell of cannabis - most worryingly when he picked his son up from the skate park.”

While not saying so in words, Helston’s mayor Gillian Geer suggested that dealings could be going on at the Penrose car park as when walking her dog of an evening she regularly saw cars “hurtling in” to the far end, park next to another car, where there was a “very short conversation and they hurtle out again.”

However, she added: “We have got a problem, because I see them in the street all the time, but it’s not as bad as some places.”

Councillor Rev Danny Reed said he dealt with many people who came to Helston to “move away from areas where the drug issue is more intense.”

He described needle points being installed in Helston’s public toilets as a “vital way forward,” along with a clean-up of the area.

He added: “Those who I work with, who have drug issues, are being very much let down by Addaction, which is recommended by GPs to go to. You can only get onto their scheme if you can prove for three weeks a clean blood test – and many of these people with problems can’t get that clean blood test.

“We’re talking about some people in this town spending £120 a day on their drug addiction.”

Town clerk Chris Dawson said that town warden Craig Bowcutt visited play areas and open spaces twice a week. Coronation Park was not in his remit, as it was owned by Cornwall Council and now taken over by South Kerrier Alliance, although that was not to say he never went there.

“He’s really only aware of one hot spot for hard drug use,” added Mr Dawson, who said these needles were not in an area accessible to the public.

Mrs Geer was supportive of needle points being installed, in particular in the Trengrouse Way toilets, with Mr Dawson agreeing: “That’s the hotspot.”

Other councillors did not, however, share the view of Mr Williams that the entire matter should be left to “the people with expertise in this field.”

Rev Reed pointed out: “Truro experienced a large upturn in recreational drugs being used in the last three or four months, which coincided with the increase in homelessness. We are seeing people coming to Helston to sleep in the woods. We have got to have some sort of strategy in mind, in case along with that comes a burgeoning of drug use.”

It was agreed to return to the matter at the July meeting of the council, with councillors in the meantime to think of a plan for the future and the clerk to look at options for needle points.

PC Anne Butcher, who was also at the meeting, promised to highlight what was raised at the team briefing and said she would ask for foot patrols in the identified areas, but warned she was unable to promise them, saying: “We can only do what we are physically able to do.”

She explained that for the next three months PCSO Paul Whitford was being seconded to an advanced PC support role helping with investigations and would be covering more than just Helston.

The town council’s two new Cornwall Council representatives, Mike Thomas and John Martin, also agreed to speak to their colleagues about solutions in other towns.

Addaction has since refuted the claims made by Rev Reed about blood testing those using its services.