Dog poo spray-painted in new campaign

Stencilled warnings will be painted next to unscooped poop

A council is to start shaming dog owners who do not clear up after their pet, after reports of poo on the street went up by more than a third in a year.

As well enforcing £100 fines, Telford and Wrekin Council is starting to spray-paint illegal deposits with a stencilled sign.

The number of incidents reported to and cleared up by the council rose from 823 to 1,119 last year, the authority said.

"There are record amounts of dog poo being left in certain places and it needs to stop," said councillor Richard Overton.

The new campaign was launched in Broomfield Road in Newport, which had the highest number of reported incidents.

Council worker Chris Woodward said a large part of his job involved picking up after irresponsible owners

Chris Woodward, who works for council contractor Idverde, said his job was "mainly litter-picking and emptying bins, but at the moment it's an epidemic of running round Telford... picking up dog poo".

The council is encouraging residents to report incidents, and says it will use CCTV in the worst-affected areas to track down offenders.

As well as being a nuisance, dog fouling can present a serious health hazard.

Ed Sullivan, from Newport Rugby Club, pointed to occasions down the years when players had become ill after coming into contact with dog mess left on the pitch.

Ed Sullivan from Newport Rugby Club said players had become ill from coming into contact with dog dirt

"One of our senior players got a small open wound and got that infected by dog poo that was actually on the playing surface, and because of that ended up in hospital very narrowly avoiding an amputation," he said.

He told how volunteer coaches at the club, especially for junior sides, were having to turn up early to go on poo patrol before training or matches could start.

"Unfortunately, it's not a rare occurrence, so it's something we absolutely have to do," he added.

Encouraged to get involved

Overton, the council's deputy leader, said the area where the campaign was launched was known as a hotspot because of "community-spirited people" reporting incidents.

"We know the problem is probably far worse in other areas. This is why we are encouraging people to get involved and report the issue," he added.

The authority said reports could be made and pictures uploaded on the MyTelford app, or anonymously phoned in to a confidential council hotline: [phone].