It is not known how the packs of medical aprons, and possibly face masks too, ended up on the site in the town of Calmore.

The discovery was revealed at a Hampshire County Council (HCC) meeting last week where councillors were said to have reacted in horror.

Images shot by a drone show hundreds of boxes piled on top of each other, close to a local nature reserve, but the council says it has no idea how they all got there.

A report from the council meeting said the packs were discovered following an investigation by New Forest District Council into use of land at Little Testwood Farm Caravan Park.

It reads: "Following their own investigations into the use of land as a caravan park, New Forest District Council reported the large-scale storage of packs of old PPE.

"It became apparent that thousands of packs of medical aprons had been dumped on the land with no obvious signs that they were being protected or stored for some future use.

'The concern is that they have been dumped with no intention of removal to a proper facility."

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HCC has launched an investigation with the Environment Agency, police and New Forest District Council to work out where the PPE came from and if it was dumped because it is defective.

The report also said enquiries have been made with the Land Registry to see who the land belongs to.

Last year, the Commons Public Accounts Committee said the government had lost 75% of the £12bn it spent on personal protective equipment in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic to inflated prices and kit that did not meet requirements, including £4bn of PPE that could not be used in the NHS.

The government announced in December it was suing one firm that supplied it with PPE for £122m plus costs.