Recently, there has been a rise in old pumpkins disposed of in Southend parks and green spaces. This not only makes these places less attractive for people, but it is also not good for the animals that live there. Animals like hedgehogs are likely to eat old pumpkins and it could make them sick.

Here are some smart ways to dispose of old pumpkins:

• use the weekly food waste collection service
• compost your pumpkin at home
• find fun recipes online to use the parts that can still be eaten

Councillor Meg Davidson, deputy leader and cabinet member for environment, said: “It’s wonderful to see families coming together for the traditional pumpkin carving and I thank those who take the time to get rid of their pumpkins responsibly.

“It’s not good to dispose of them in our parks and green spaces. This can hurt our local wildlife and might attract animals we don’t want. Our parks team works really hard to keep these areas nice for everyone.”

Stuart Atkinson, senior contract manager for Veolia, added: “30 million pumpkins are expected to be bought, just for carving up, this Halloween and over half of those won’t be eaten. A single pumpkin might not seem like much but put together this represents a tremendous amount of waste. Let’s all remember to use our blue food waste bins to recycle our food waste.

“All food waste collected by our crews will be taken to a special processing plant in East London where it is used to generate green electricity and fertiliser which can be used in farming to grow more food.”

Residents can order a new food caddy and food waste liners free of charge via our Blue food waste bin page. These will be delivered to your doorstep.