Rubbish including 141 syringes was collected during a recent clean-up at one of Llandudno’s most popular tourist landmarks.

Friends of Conwy County Countryside Litter Pickers’ clean up of the Great Orme Nature Reserve recently saw them collect 15 bags worth of rubbish weighing 72.19kg - with the Friends warning the issue of waste was spiralling out of control.

Member of the group and Great Orme wildlife campaigner Jenni Cox, said the rubbish on the Great Orme has been an ongoing issue and was only getting worse.

Ms Cox said: “There’s no escaping rubbish anywhere on the Great Orme now. Some of the more inaccessible areas don’t get cleared for years.

“I know where plenty of rubbish is, but not only are there many risks involved with reaching it, another problem is getting the stuff out once it’s been collected.”

She explained rubbish confined to the Orme itself was not the only problem but that of rubbish washing up on its shores that were causing issues.

The difficulty to get to some of this rubbish was making it hard to reach all the rubbish and left uncollected could have severe consequences.

Ms Cox said: “It’s a hazard to wildlife - entanglement, choking, etc; t’s a threat to public health; it attracts vermin and breeds bacteria; while bits of sharp metal, broken glass and syringes are a hazard. It also poses a threat to peoples health due to the harm caused to water systems like rivers and oceans. There’s nothing good about it.”

Despite having been involved in litter picking for a number of years, the recent clean up by the group members shocked her.

Ms Cox said while the area was not visible from the road she knew it from past rubbish issues.

Last year she found rubbish, including a piece of metal and a lobster pot, near a number of seal pups.

She added: “A photo was taken of the seal pup lying amongst rubbish. It was a very sad sight to see.”