BAGS of rubbish were left dumped outside Thornbury Leisure Centre following the EU Referendum South Gloucestershire count on Friday.

The bags, which contained mostly admin stationery from the count and polling station, was meant to be disposed of by South Gloucestershire Council after the count, but was instead left outside.

A spokesman for the council apologised for the error and stressed there were no confidential details from the referendum within the bags, but admitted their processes were under review to ensure it would not happen again.

He added: “Following the count, election staff were focused on dealing with the confidential information that the authority is required to keep by law.

“Usually, we would arrange for all the rubbish brought back from the polling stations to be disposed of.”

A spokesman for Circadian Trust, which runs the leisure centre, said: “We were disappointed to learn that waste related to the count was disposed of inappropriately.

“Under the conditions of the rental, It’s the responsibility of customers to ensure that all waste is removed or arranged to be removed from the site in an appropriate manner.

“We are working with South Gloucestershire Council to ensure these procedures are carried through.”