Woman unimpressed by police response after suspicious pills found on Hutton Park picnic table

A South Ribble resident has issued a warning to families after a teenage relative was offered tablets in a local park – and the pills were then left on a picnic table where younger children could have mistaken them for sweets.

The woman, who does not want to be named, said she was also shocked when she reported the incident to the police – and was told just to flush the unidentified drugs down the toilet.

It happened after she took her two young grandchildren and their 15-year-old cousin to Hutton Park and playground on Sunday.

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While the boy was watching the youngsters playing, he was approached by an older teen and told something had been left for him on a nearby table “if you’re interested”.   When he declined, the youth walked away.

The woman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS):  “When we were leaving, he [explained what had happened] – and that he had just said to the older boy, ‘No, I’m good.’

“Because I’m a bit of a nosey person, I said, ‘Let’s go and see what he left you’ – and there was this little bag pushed through a hole in the table.

“You could see the top end of [it] and then I looked underneath and pulled it – and there were these two tablets in there.”

The woman said she was sadly unsurprised at the contents of the unsolicited gift – and grateful that her nephew was “savvy” enough to respond in the way he did.

However, the incident left her worried about what might have happened had the pills been picked up by youngsters like her five and eight-year-old grandchildren.

“One of the tablets was green-coloured – so if [any children] were having a picnic, they might just have thought it was a sweet and popped it.   That’s actually what worried me most,” she explained.

She also said she expected her family’s experience to have prompted more of an investigation by Lancashire Police than it did – not least because the incident occurred less than a mile away from the constabulary’s headquarters on the other side of the A59.

“I called 101 and they just said to me, ‘There’s nothing we can do really – we’ll send a community [officer] around that area and [we will] put it on the log’ – and that was about it.

“[They told me] to flush the tablets down the toilet.  I thought I’d better take a picture first, as that might not be the end of it.

“Is there not any CCTV in the area that might have footage of the young man – or is that too much trouble?     Could somebody have examined the tablets to find out what sort of drugs they were?

“The police will [have to] prioritise, I know – and maybe that’s not on the list of priorities.

“I did [ask whether] playgrounds are not the place where drug dealers will find new customers, but they said that’s not really the case. [Yet] 20 years ago, my son – who was 12 at the time – was on a different playground and he was offered weed.

“So I think people who use Hutton Park should be made aware, [because] I honestly don’t think it will be a one-off. It was also the cheekiness of him – I was there nearby and it still didn’t stop him.”

Responding to the issues raised in this report, a spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: “Police were contacted on Sunday 19th August in relation to two tablets being found in a clear plastic bag in Hutton Park. The find followed an unknown teenager informing children of the tablets’ whereabouts.

“The tablets have been disposed of and the local Neighbourhood Policing team have been made aware and will conduct further enquiries.

“It is believed this is an isolated incident, however, if members of the public have information regarding this or similar incidents, they are urged to contact Lancashire Police on 101.”

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