A CONCERNED resident has expressed her disgust at the sight of used face masks being left on the floor of Asda car park in Barrow.

These masks were found on the superstore car park on Walney Road, but Asda are not to blame says this resident.

Sharon Taylor-Richardson, admin of Barrow-in-Furness Lost and Found Pets, said: "People are just chucking their germ ridden masks and gloves down for other people to clean up.

"It is a bit pointless even wearing them if they are just going to throw it down. It is bad for the virus spread, bad for the environment, and bad for wild life.

"Take them home and dispose of them properly. And cut the loops to protect wild life."

This message is shared by the RSPCA chief executive as dumped face masks have become a new hazard to wildlife since the pandemic started and we've received reports of animals tangled in the ear straps of single-use masks since it became law for the public to wear them in shops.

Chris Sherwood, chief executive of the RSPCA, said: “For many years the public have been aware of the message to cut up plastic six-pack rings before throwing them away to stop animals getting tangled in them, and now we are keen to get out the message that the same should be done for face masks too - as very sadly, animals are susceptible to getting tangled up in them.

“Now that face masks are the norm, and may be for some time to come, this message is more important than ever as thousands of these masks are being thrown away every day.

"We’re concerned discarded face masks could become a significant hazard, particularly to wild animals and birds.

"Our RSPCA officers have had to rescue animals from getting tangled in face masks and we expect that this may go up as time goes on, so the best thing to do is to simply cut the elastic ear straps in half before throwing it away.”

Since lockdown started, they have dealt with 938 incidents of animals caught in litter.