SCOTTISH Borders Council have revealed a massive upsurge in the number of discarded needles it has collected during 2012.

Throughout 2011 SB Local staff were called to pick up 45 syringes from various locations around the region.

But figures just released show that the number has more than trebled during this year, and that's only up to the end of October.

The local authority have so far collected 150 needles which, they believe, had mainly been discarded by drug users.