WE ALL like a drink over the festive period - but one recycling facility has felt the full brunt of the left over bottles.

The area, situated in the Tesco car park in Winnall, saw its bottle bank overflow with an abundance of glassware.

Once the banks became full, members of the public took to places their rubbish neatly in front, filling up the parking area.

Last emptied on New Year's Eve, the area has been filled with more than a thousand bottles with some locals taking to social media to vent their concerns.

Jim Mitchell of Milland Road in Winchester wasn't surprised that the area had become so overcrowded.

He said: "I think the whole of Winchester just got boozed up and had a good time.

"It was about this bad last Christmas as well. I was down here two weeks ago and it was nothing like this so I put this down to the Christmas and New Year period.

"It just looks awful and it will only get worse."

A Tesco spokesperson, who are responsible for the facility, said: “We’re pleased to be able to offer a recycling facility to our customers in Winchester, and it was very well used over the Christmas and New Year period.

"All the bottles were collected [on Tuesday afternoon] and we’re looking at increasing the number of collections for future bank holidays.”

The amount of bottles left has sparked concern by alcohol-awareness groups.

Daily Echo:

Jackie Ballard, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said the charity wanted to see more people take up Dry January following the heavy festive period, which was obvious to see from the amount of bottles that were left at the bottle bank.

Mrs Ballard said: “Dry January is an incredible opportunity to give the body a break, reassess our relationship with alcohol and gain some great health benefits such as; lower blood sugar, lower blood pressure, improved sleep, losing weight and feeling more energised.

“In the run up to Christmas many people start drinking more than usual as they celebrate the festive season with parties and get-togethers."