A MUM was horrified when her two-year-old daughter found a needle bin for drug users in a restaurant toilet.

Sarah Crouch, 34, was at the London Road branch of KFC in Brighton when her two year old daughter Rebecca found the “sharps bin”, used to dispose of hypodermic needles.

She said: “My daughter was bending down touching a box and I realised it was a sharps box used by heroin users.

“The people who use them can have any sorts of germs and diseases.”

She added: “You don’t have something like that in a family restaurant.

“At the end of the day, it could have been so much worse.

“My little girl has been traumatised by the event and I’m pregnant so my hormones are going crazy.”

Mrs Crouch, a full-time carer from Brighton, said the manager told her the bin had been placed in the toilet to provide a service to the community.

A complaint was also made to Brighton and Hove City Council about the bin.

CRI, the social care and health charity, run a needle exchange scheme on London Road as part of their harm reduction service.

Mike Byrne, operations manager for CRI, said: “I don’t think you would see many sharps bins in public places at all.

“You would think the last thing that KFC would want to do is to attract people who are going to use drugs.”

A spokesperson for KFC said that it is not their policy to provide sharps bins and they will be working with the restaurant on London Road to provide “alternative ways” to deal with any issues they are experiencing.

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman said: “Council officers visited the owner today, who had already removed the sharps box in response to the customer complaint.

“The owner is planning alternative methods to ensure safe conditions and hopes to install a key pad entry system for the toilets.

“Our Community Safety Team has also made contact with the owner to offer ongoing advice and further support.”