BARNOLDSWICK dog owners have been so serious about keeping their streets clean, the borough council has run out of poop scoops.

Since the scheme to get people cleaning up behind their pets began in the late 1980s, it is estimated that more than a quarter of a million scoops have been handed out in the town.

But despite the scheme working to clean-up Barnoldswick, cleansing chiefs had to tell the council shop to stop handing out so many.

Barnoldswick councillor David Whipp said he was stunned when good-hearted citizens began complaining to him that they had been told the council shop could not provide them with the scoops.

He said: "Barnoldswick piloted poop scoops and dog bins. Since we began the scheme, more than a quarter of a million scoops have been handed out in the town. That's the equivalent of about 14 tonnes of dog muck picked up.

"Most dog owners have now got the message and clean up after their dog. It's crazy for the council to wreck the scheme by attempting to ration the scoops. They should be getting more in. Barlick's dogs deserve better." "With foot and mouth restrictions, the dog mess problem on accessible paths and parks has got worse and is more concentrated.

"It has been a popular scheme but we still get dog muck on the streets and pavements and we need more picking up. Cutting back on giving out scoops will just make it worse."

But John Kirk, the council's director of services, said that the problem is that no sooner does the council shop get a delivery of scoops they are just as quickly snapped up, so staff have had to ration them.

He said: "We ran out temporarily and we are hoping to get another reasonably sized delivery, but how long they will last I have no idea.

"For some reason, Barnoldswick is the number one place for poop scoops. People come charging in in their droves for them and they always disappear quickly."