A HEALTHCARE worker who found a collection of laughing gas cannisters dumped on a residential road has warned of the serious dangers they present to users.

Karen Woodland spotted the cannisters on Shrewsbury Road in Heaton, off the junction with Harrow Road on Tuesday morning.

It is believed that they were inhaled at around 4.30am that day with a neighbour reporting they heard a group of people talking in the area at that time.

The Bolton News:

The Bolton News:

The laughing gas cannisters dumped on the ground on Shrewsbury Road in Heaton

Karen, 47, said: "We do see a lot of cannisters on Harrow Road.

"It is disgusting and there are children who play out on the street and they might be curious and pick them them up. They might think they are some kind of toy.

"In my job as a healthcare worker I have seen the effects that the cannisters can cause on the brain and breathing.

"When they are inhaled they can lead to a loss of balance and they can end up banging their heads.

"Even though the effects do not last for a very long time and they get a short period of time and they do not know what they are doing.

"People use it as a quick fix but it is not worth taking for the long term.

"It can cause memory loss and lead to heart failure and breathing difficulties."

Karen added that another hotspot where laughing gas cannisters are regularly found is Overdale Drive.

Volunteers regularly clear up the mess.

And a volunteer from conservation charity, The Woodland Trust, has collected the nitrous oxide cannisters on Shrewsbury Road.

Nitrous Oxide, also known as laughing gas, is a psychoactive colourless gas that been used in recent years as an illegal recreational high. When it is inhaled through a balloon, attached to the canister, it creates a "high" for the users.

The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 makes selling the gas canisters to members of the public in shops for the purpose of inhalation an offence.