BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Neighbors in a southside development are furious after kids found syringes in trash illegally dumped on vacant lots.

The residents complained that developer Lennox Homes ignored their pleas to have the area cleaned up, but a company spokesman said no one had alerted them about the problem.

Jessie Martin said the area has been plagued by illegal dumping, but it was the last straw a couple weeks ago when children found the syringes. Fortunately the kids turned the syringes over to their parents. But that's when Martin called Eyewitness News.

Martin lives in "Sydney Harbor," a development near South Union Avenue and East Berkshire. Some homes are built up, but they're surrounded by vacant lots.

Last Monday, Eyewitness News looked at the piles of trash Martin pointed out -- and found a package of syringes still on the ground. There was also broken glass, and prescription medicine.

"Some inhalers, prescription inhalers," Martin said -- picking up the package. "I don't want the kids getting hold of stuff like this." Martin and another neighbor put the syringes in a box they found on the ground, and scooped up broken glass. They took it all home to dispose of it safely.

Martin said he has contacted the developer, but didn't get any response.

"We want to have them clean this up, because he's still trying to develop this area here," Martin said.

Last Monday the home-sales office in the development was closed, but Eyewitness News left a phone message. Lennox spokesman Dave Cates returned the call, and said the trash-dumping would be fixed by the end of the week.

By mid-week, crews were out on the vacant lots removing tumbleweeds.

This Monday, Eyewitness News called Cates again. Cates said the reporter's call last week was the first he knew of problems with trash dumped, but residents had complained about tumbleweeds.

"The last thing we want for kids and clients is for them to come across syringes and medical materials," Cates said. Cates said he didn't believe any neighbors had reported the trash dumping to the company.

But, resident Donna Livingstone told Eyewitness News she had called and written letters about the problem. Livingstone said she called again a few days ago.

"I called the main office, and their reaction was -- well, that's not our problem. I said -- yes it is, he owns the land."

Three other neighbors contacted by Eyewitness News said the illegal dumping has been a problem in the neighborhood for months, but they had not reported it to the developer.

However, neighbor Yesenia Rojas said she started reporting her concerns when she moved into her home in the Fall of 2008. She was worried about a tractor left on one street, and the dumped trash. First, she contacted the home-sale office.

"They told me they couldn't do anything, that I had to contact the main Lennox office," Rojas said. This neighbor said she talked to a worker named Crystal in the Lennox office.

"They were going to take care of that. She was going to send someone to take a look, and it would be picked up. And weeks went by, and nothing. So, I called her a second time, weeks went by, and nothing again."

Lennox spokesman Dave Cates said the company has a clean-up crew that goes through the area once a week.

Martin said he's glad the trash has been removed, but he's still worried.

"It's amazing that it's gone now, but what happens in the future if it happens again? Because it happens frequently out here," he said.