A HOSPITAL cleaner will have to undergo tests for hepatitis B after she was pricked with a used hypodermic needle while cleaning the men's public toilets.

Claire Hopper, from Middlehope Grove, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, will also have to undergo an Aids test.

The 38-year-old mother-of-one was carrying out her duties at the newly-opened Bishop Auckland Hospital when she discovered the needle, which was sticking out of a bin liner in the men's toilets on the top floor of the building.

She said: "It was just a little pedal bin. The needle was sticking out of the bag and I pricked my finger on it."

Mrs Hopper said she was wearing rubber gloves but the needle pierced them, causing her finger to bleed.

There were another four needles in the bag, which have been confirmed as being from the hospital's needle exchange programme.

Mrs Hopper said: "They are going to the needle exchange, getting their stuff then going straight to the toilets.

"The doctor has told me that there is very little chance that I will have caught anything, but it is still the not knowing. It is like having a loaded gun to your head."

Mrs Hopper and her husband, Derrick, 40, said they felt no malice towards the hospital and realised there was a need for a needle exchange, but felt that something needed to be done to get people to discard their needles properly.

A spokesperson for South Durham Health Care Trust said: "It is extremely distressing that needles are being discarded in the hospital's public toilets.

"We share Mrs Hopper's concerns and understand how anxious she must be.

"We have made our security guards aware of the problem, asking them to be particularly vigilant during their patrols, and are looking for other ways of preventing this type of occurrence."