Plastic bottles, crisp packets, old beer cans... and a handgun!

MEMBERS of the Leicestershire Wombles litter-picking group has made some unusual finds in its time – but even they were stunned when they discovered a gun.

The weapon, which was taken away by police, was found discarded in Enderby last week.

A member of the group of volunteers found the weapon, which turned out to be a pellet-firing air pistol, while clearing up in Beggars Lane on Tuesday afternoon.

They left it where it was and contacted police immediately.

The discovery followed one of cash and drugs by another Wombles team in South Wigston recently.

Jasmine Saadat, at 23 the youngest of the Enderby litter-pickers, came across the weapon.

She said: “To be honest it was exciting. Out of all the things we’ve found a gun really stands out. I started to dig it out and I said to the others ‘is that a gun?.’

“Then I said ‘Oh my God, it is a gun! How cool is that?.’”

The group of six Enderby residents had been working their way along a short stretch of Beggars Lane – collecting 32 sacks full of rubbish in total – and the gun was found at about 1.30pm.

Sue Wareham, who has been carrying out litter picks with other Enderby Wombles for more than two years, said it was the most bizarre find her group has had.

She said: “We do have a joke about Wombles Bingo – items that should be on a litter-picking bingo card.

“In the past I’ve found a saucepan, a frying pan and £7.35 in change, but we’ve never had anything like this before.

“We do occasionally come across syringes, knives and sometime sets of numberplates. The front and back plates have been dumped together so they’ve probably been used for some bad purposes.

“I think there was a team of Wombles in the Gilmorton area who also found a gun once.”

She said police were called and the officers who took the gun away were unable to say initially whether it was an illegal weapon or one that would have required a licence.

Police have since examined the gun and have confirmed it to be a pellet-firing air weapon.

Such guns do not require a licence and are not illegal, but can lead to charges of possessing an imitation firearm if carried in public.

A police spokeswoman said: “Shortly before 1.30pm on Tuesday, a member of the public called police after they came across what they believed to be a handgun while out litter picking close to Beggars Lane, Leicester.

“Officers attended and recovered the item. On further inspection it was found to be a pellet gun.”

LITTER-PICKERS AS WEAPON IS FOUND IN THE UNDERGROWTH