TWO councillors were ‘disgusted’ to find human waste amid the items littering a verge near Holsworthy Industrial Estate.

Town councillor Nigel Kenneally and town and Torridge district councillor for Holsworthy Jon Hutchings were contacted by a number of local citizens concerned about the state of a stretch of land near the entrance to the town’s industrial estate.

Upon inspection Cllrs Keneally and Hutchings were shocked to find among the McDonald’s wrappers and discarded cans, bottles filled with urine and a carrier bag containing what they believed to be ‘human faeces’.

Concerned resident Susan Dymond, who works on the industrial estate, was among those to contact the Holsworthy Town and Torridge District councils. She told the Post: “I emailed Holsworthy Town Council and Torridge in mid-January about the disgusting rubbish being thrown in the bank near the entrance to the industrial estate, this has been building up for at least 12 months and is hidden mostly in the summer when the shrubbery is growing and green, but is all visible when the leaves drop in the winter.

“I then messaged councillor Nigel Kenneally who last week took it upon himself with Jon Hutchings to go and look at the mess, Nigel subsequently contacted R Haste from Torridge and met him at the site I believe.

“Nigel then advised that himself and Jonathan would clear up the rubbish this week which they have done and Torridge (Holsworthy crew) have installed a bin today, I thank them for giving their time and the effort they put in to clearing this very substantial amount of rubbish, I am sure it was horrible, also for Torridge for their prompt response and help.

“Lets hope those with a conscience can be bothered to get out of their trucks/cars and use the bin and not just lob it.”

On Wednesday, February 12, Cllrs Keneally and Hutchings set out armed with litter pickers and plastic refuse bags. By the end of the day they collected five bin bags worth of rubbish.

Having successfully cleared the area, Cllr Kenneally said: “Jon and I were alerted to the mess up at the industrial estate by several concerned citizens. After inspection, we contacted [Torridge District Council] who informed us that the land was owned privately. After some discussion with Richard Haste from Torridge it was decided that Jon and I would clear up the rubbish and that Torridge would install a bin.

“Jon and I are both disgusted by the refuse we found up there, including bottles of urine, energy drink tins, McDonald’s wrappers and a TV.”

Reacting to the human waste they found, he added: “Completely disgusted with what we found. I’m glad we cleaned it, just hope it stays litter free now.”

Cllr Hutchings added: “We had had many complaints about the area and no one wanted to take responsibility or clean it up. Nigel had been trying for quite a while to sort the problem and in the end I suggested we just go and clear it in the hope that once it was tidied up and a bin was in place it might stay tidy. We will see. It was pretty disgusting what we had to clear up — rubbish is one thing but human waste is another!”

As a result, a bin has now been sited by Torridge District Council. Cllr Keneally added his thanks to Mr Haste for his ‘swift assistance and provision of a bin’.