A YORK mum-of-two says she has become a virtual prisoner in her own home after being cut by a dirty needle discarded outside her flat.

Bekki Scrivener, 27, has found drug debris in the bin stores and pathways around her home, and even spotted a needle on the windowsill of her ground floor city-centre flat.

She is facing months of HIV tests and vaccinations after she cut her hand on one of the discarded needles, and constantly fears for her children's safety.

She said: "I have got two toddlers, and my eldest is at the age when he's walking around always picking things up - like leaves.

"I scared he will run ahead of me, and could pick a needle up."

Bekki, who lives in Barbican Court, Fawcett Street, with her partner Carl Sanderson and two small children, had put the recycling out earlier this week when she cut herself on the needle.

She had dropped her phone in the flats' communal yard, reached to pick it up, and cut her hand on a needle half hidden underneath a bush.

"I didn't know what to do," Bekki said.

York Press:
HIDDEN DANGER: Rubbish discarded by drug users at the rear of Barbican Court in York  

After calling NHS 111, she followed advice to bleed and wash the wound several times before wrapping it in clingfilm and going to hospital.

There she was vaccinated against hepatitis, but faces more injections and months of blood tests for HIV before she will know for certain if she is free of the disease.

Bekki said: "We just don't feel safe in our own home. I am having anxiety attacks because I'm afraid of going outside, in case the drug users are there.

"I know it's affecting my children as well, because I don't like to go out."

Bekki, who is mum to three-year-old Riley and 18-month-old Georgie, first noticed strangers hanging around the building at the end of last year, but over recent months said they had become "more brazen", even behaving aggressively when she asked them to quieten down.

She has spoken to her landlords, and has even been to council housing officers to ask about moving out of their home.

Landlord Phil Richardson said he had been aware of the problem for around six weeks, and three weeks ago he and other owners in the building had decided to fund a secure gate, to make sure only residents can get into the communal areas.

He added: "It is being built, and we are waiting for it to be fitted. Nobody is dragging their heels but it is a bespoke gate.

"I hope Bekki does not have any ongoing health issues."