MORE than half a million pounds is being wasted every year in Bolton because of wasted medicine prescriptions.

Bolton Primary Care Trust has revealed that patients throw away thousands of pounds a year when they collect prescriptions they do not use or need.

Repeat prescriptions that are never used are to blame for most of the money wasted.

Last year £420,000 worth of medicines - 7,000 kgs - were returned to chemists in Bolton but that did not include all the medicines people threw away at home.

The Trust is taking part in a regional campaign to stop wasteage and make people more aware of the problem.

Helen McKnight, director of Clinical Governance and Bolton PCT, said: "We're asking people to stop and think. Only order the medicines you actually take, and if you want to cut down or stop taking a certain medicine, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.

"Once a medicine is dispensed, we can't reuse it, even if it is returned unwanted. There's no such thing as a free prescription - everything has to be paid for whether it is used or not."

The campaign slogan "One Pot Pays For All" emphasises that money saved on wasted medicines could pay for major operations or put towards medicines to lower people's cholesterol.

More than 3.75 million prescriptions are dispensed every year in Bolton, with an average cost of £10 per prescription.

Medicines left at home also prove a risk to people's lives if they are not disposed of properly. When thrown away with household waste or flushed down the toilet, they can cause pollution and endanger wildlife. A team of PCT staff will be in the Bolton Market Hall on Friday, between 10am and 2pm raising awareness of the campaign, which will last a year.

Posters will be displayed in all pharmacies and patients issued with repeat prescriptions will get a reminder not to waste medicines.

Patients who have medicines they do not use are advised to return them to a pharmacy for safe disposal and should talk to their doctor or pharmacist about medicines they no longer want to use.