RESIDENTS have raised concerns after a number of miniature gas canisters were found littering areas around Dinas Powys earlier this week.

The canisters were initially believed to have contained NO2, or 'laughing gas' - commonly used as a so-called 'legal high', however others argued that they were in fact harmless CO2 bulbs.

Comments on the Dinas Powys Pictures social media page suggested that a large number of the canisters had been found across both Dinas Powys and Penarth in recent weeks, with many saying they were appalled at both the littering aspect and the thought that they may have been used for intoxication purposes.

But others made the point that there were worse things that children could potentially stumble across whilst walking the streets.

Teresa Hares said on Facebook: "(They are) totally harmless when the gas has expired. Used in cake decorating. Not exactly a Hep-C or HIV infected needle. True it's litter but dog poop is more harmful to your kids. Pick it up and put it in the nearest bin it won't hurt you."

Ben Jarvis agreed, saying: "You know that those are normally CO2 canisters, not N2o. Used in lots of things and in their own right, utterly harmless.

"I know I'd be miffed if I found used heroin syringes or crack pipes on my road but an empty gas bulb is only 'drug paraphernalia' in 1% of uses or less ... the rest of the time it's a harmless piece of hardware normally chucked out with the trash."

But Nadia Roodhouse-Fish, who found a number of the canisters herself, said : "People are using it to get off their faces and leaving the empty cans laying around for little kids to pick up.

"The police need to be doing more."