WREXHAM Council has made a plea for people to bag and bin their face coverings after use following an increase in litter.

The council is asking that people wearing disposable face coverings when going about their daily business to make use of general waste bins or take masks home to dispose of them safely.

They add that they should also be but into a plastic bag to avoid any further spread of the virus and your hands should be washed or sanitised straight after.

Cllr David A Bithell, lead member for the environment said: “It’s really surprising that people are choosing to just throw their face masks or coverings away.

"Not only is it littering but it’s putting others at risk of contamination. They’re not difficult to dispose of so please act responsibly and don’t discard them anywhere but in a bag then in a bin."

The council state that discarded masks are also a danger to wildlife who could easily become entangled in the ties used to hold the mask in place.

This follows a campaign by the RSPCA nationally for people to ‘snip the straps’ off face masks to avoid harming animals.

RSPCA Cymru dealt with 35 incidents across the country since lockdown was first announced on March 23 relating to dumped face masks.

Chris Sherwood, the RSPCA’s chief executive, said: “For many years, the public have been aware of the message to cut up plastic six-pack rings before throwing them away to stop animals getting tangled in them and now we are keen to get out the message that the same should be done for face masks too - as very sadly, animals are susceptible to getting tangled up in them.

“Now that face masks are increasingly the norm, and - as of September 14 - are compulsory in shops and indoor public spaces in Wales, our snip the straps message is more important than ever as thousands of these masks are being thrown away every day.

"We’re concerned discarded face masks could become a significant hazard, particularly to wild animals and birds.

“Our RSPCA officers have had to rescue animals from getting tangled in face masks and we expect incidents may go up as time goes on, so the best thing to do is to simply cut the elastic ear straps in half before throwing it away.”