Drug discovery on Dunnet beach shocked woman
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A CAITHNESS woman was "absolutely shocked" when she found a drug ampoule on Dunnet beach.
Dorcas Sinclair, who lives in Thurso and has started a group called Caithness Beach Cleans, said: "It is not the sort of thing you come across a lot. To find that on the beach was most unexpected and is not something you would not want a child to stumble on."
She had no idea what the ampoule was used for but popped it in her pocket and, when she went home, checked online and discovered it was a drug prescribed to women after childbirth.
"I took it to a chemist in Thurso who said he would dispose of it," she said.
Mrs Sinclair said two needles in a plastic case were also found on another part of the beach. A needle in a case also was found on Thurso beach.
"How does stuff like this end up on our beaches?" she said. "People should be aware of what is on the beach as it is not always what you expect.
"If you are with children you have to be careful as they could pick up something really bad."
Mrs Sinclair loves walking on local beaches but is dismayed by the amount of plastic and other rubbish that is turning up. So she decided to start Caithness Beach Cleans to try and make a difference.
"It is certainly worse than it used to be. I thought it would be a good idea for anyone who wanted to collect plastic to weigh it, take a photo and send it to us so we could find out how much we were taking off the beach," she said.
She set up the group on March 3 and so far the total weight is 672 lb. Most of the material cannot be recycled so has to go into refuse bins. "A lot more stuff is being picked up than we can weigh as most people don't have scales," she said.
At present the group has 55 members, and is hoping to secure funding from local companies for beach clean stations which provides litter pickers and bags to encourage people to take part in a clean-up.
"There is so much plastic, rope and everything else on beaches it needs to be sorted," she said. "There is just so much to pick up. We have collected diabetes pens and prickers and loads of other unmentionable stuff."
