Hull Community Wardens said today they are winning the war on discarded needles, but believe more work needs to be done.

More than 83,000 needles have been collected from streets and other areas across the city since 2001.

Wardens carry out the task as part of their role to make the city cleaner and safer.

A total of 83,401 needles have been collected everywhere, from "sharps" bins used by drug addicts to dispose of dirty needles, to derelict properties.

However, figures show the numbers are dropping, with 16,151 needles collected in 2005/2006, compared with 10,074 in 2007/2008.

John Marshall MBE, head of community services for the Goodwin Development Trust in Hull, said: "We can keep tackling the symptoms and removing needles all day.

"How we can be really effective is to get to the problem behind the needles, which is what we have been doing.

"When I started this job, I was staggered by how many needles the wardens found.

"It's a massive amount, there's no doubt about it. But needle numbers have halved in the past two to three years.

"We think there are fewer drug users around the streets and needle exchanges have got their act together."

Warden team leader Vic Smith, 48, who is based in Hessle Road, west Hull, said: "It is bad, but it's getting better. We used to find needles on the pavements then, but we aren't finding them there now.

"We are finding them in drug den properties rather than on the streets."

Charlie Clark, 57, a warden since 2001, is based in Spring Bank, city centre.

He said: "I feel a sense of pride as a warden that the work I have done, along with other wardens, has helped to reduce the number of syringes on our streets. But there is an awful lot more work to do.

"We are still concerned by the amount of dirty needles and syringes we are finding in open and public spaces."

Hull Drug Action Team estimates there are 3,700 Class A drug-takers in Hull, of whom between 50 and 75 per cent are injecting.

In the first quarter of this year the number of needles exchanged at specialist needle exchanges in the city was 40,000.