A drug den found carpeted with needles and rubbish in an abandoned town centre underpass has been cleaned up.

Within hours of being told about the mess, staff from Shepway District Council had cleared up the area.

A soiled bed and smashed glass lay among the waste, with more than 60 disused needles strewn inside the disused subway in Folkestone.

The scene was discovered on Monday by the Folkestone Town Sprucer team.

Sprucer Peter Phillips said: “I have never seen anything like this in my life it has clearly been here for a long time.

"When we discovered the mess there was a person down there completely out of it.”

A statement from SDC released today said: "We have cleared all the rubbish and needles from a ‘drug den’ discovered in a disused underpass behind the Saga building in Middelburg Square, Folkestone.

"Although it’s not in general use and is not part of our usual street cleaning regime, we got the mess cleared within a few hours of hearing about it.

"If you have concerns about ‘drug dens’ please contact us and Kent Police before sharing them on social media so that we can take action as quickly as possible."

The sprucer team, which is seen around the town clearing away rubbish and carrying out work to tidy up Folkestone, said the needles were too dangerous for them to handle.

The den, which is metres away from Precious Times nursery in Cheriton Road, sparked shock and sadness among residents.