Seems social distancing tends to fade a bit when the sun starts to go down. The image above shows what was left behind one evening in Henrietta Park.
Henry Ford tells me: ‘I guess this is becoming popular! We had a party of girls, about 10 of them, on Monday night and this was what they left behind them when we cleared up on Tuesday morning.
There was also a report made to the police’
For the uninitiated, those canisters contained nitrous oxide – or laughing gas as its called – and are increasingly littering our streets. The balloons are what they release the gas into before inhaling as the substance is very cold and could cause frostbite of the larynx if inhaled directly.
You’ll find piles of these outside nightclubs and at festivals.
Nitrous oxide canisters manufactured as whipped cream chargers and are completely legal and readily available. Anyone can buy these without a permit.
My thanks to Wikipedia for this : ‘Supply of nitrous oxide for recreational purposes is illegal under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016. This means anyone found to be selling or giving away nitrous oxide for illicit purposes could face up to 7 years in prison and or an unlimited fine.’
Meanwhile, my partner stopped to take this photo while cycling through Sydney gardens. Beer bottles – from a picnic? on the grass – left for the council to clear up. At least they put them in a bag!
For the last two weeks, literally hundreds of young people have been congregating after 7 or 8 pm on the lawn below the Royal Crescent’s private garden, drinking and taking nitrous oxide. Each morning there are dozens of bottles and hundreds of the small gas canisters. The Council eventually cleans up the bottles but not the canisters. No one disperses the drunken, screaming crowds, who have made noise until after midnight