EMERGENCY council workers were called out twice in as many days to pick up sacks of clinical waste dumped in the same Old Town street.

Swindon Borough Council branded the fly-tipping as extremely peculiar and disturbing. An investigation was underway to establish who had left the nine hazardous waste sacks, a spokesman said.

Eight clinical waste bags left on Prospect Place, off Victoria Road, were first noticed by parish councillor Toby Robson on Saturday afternoon.

Stuffed inside the bags was intravenous drips and there appeared to be blood pooling at the bottom of at least one of the sacks. Passers-by said the bags had been left by the roadside for a number of days.

Coun Robson, who represents Eastcott ward on South Swindon Parish Council, said: “I had just been for a walk round Old Town with all three kids. We were just on our way back when I did a complete double take.

“This is incredibly dangerous. As I was sorting things out, I saw a couple of pools of blood in the bottom of a bag and transparent bags with drip equipment.

“Some of those drip bags should have some patients’ names on them. That adds a whole lot more concern.”

The sacks were swiftly collected by Swindon Borough Council.

However, the mystery deepened on Sunday when another yellow clinical waste sack was dumped in exactly the same spot along Prospect Place at around midday.

This second sack, which was collected within around 20 minutes of being reported to the council, contained medical antiseptic wipes and boxes marked with the logo of US medical firm Baxter. The company makes products designed to treat blood conditions, kidney diseases and immune disorders. The bag also appeared to contain a juice carton and whisky bottle.

Following the second incident, Coun Robson said: “The bottom line is having clinical waste on the street is totally unacceptable. It may be that we should look at enforcement action if it’s a healthcare professional who should know better.” However, he suggested if the waste was being left by someone struggling to manage their own health condition, the council should instead offer them help and support to mange the waste rather than dump it on the street.

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: “These incidents are extremely peculiar, not to mention disturbing. We would like to thank the members of the public for reporting these cases to us. Our Highways team responded within minutes on both occasions and took the waste to our depot while we investigate who left it there.”

The issue of how clinical waste is disposed has been in the news recently, after it emerged that one firm stockpiled hundreds of tonnes of human waste collected from NHS hospitals.

Healthcare Environmental Services was stripped of its NHS contracts and the Environment Agency launched an investigation, saying the company had breached environmental rules at five sites that dealt with clinical waste.

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said earlier this month: “We are taking enforcement action against the operator, which includes clearance of the excess waste, and have launched a criminal investigation.”