DOG fouling not only blights our public spaces it also endangers the lives of children.

Richard Newton looks at the issue and what each council in East Lancashire is doing. The Dog-Fouling Act, 1996, requires owners to pick up their pet's mess with fines of £50 if they don't and up to £1,000 if they are taken to court. . .

DOG owner Paul Hutchinson calls the path running close to his home "Dog Poo Alley" because he doesn't think the local council does enough to keep in clean.

But the protester and some of his neighbours in St Hubert's Road, Great Harwood, aren't the only ones.

There is a growing number of people who believe local councils should do more to keep a tight rein on the rogue owners who make open spaces a nightmare for us all.

Paul said said: "I agree that the council should fine people but they should also give them somewhere to put their waste.

"At the moment they are around the play area and the children using it tend to pick the mess out and throw it around.

"There are not enough bins out and they need more, not only in the park but on Railway View, which only has four along its entire length."

Dog-owner and Blackburn councillor Paul McGurty said that more needed to be done in Blackburn and Darwen, too.

He said: "It is absolutely disgusting. Corporation Park in my ward needs a lot of work. There are countless dogs roaming around up there and the council needs to do more.

"The enforcements are significantly down compared to how much waste has been left on the streets and parks, there are only a handful of owners that are prosecuted."

Burnley councillor Peter Doyle said: "In my opinion the blame lies with irresponsible dog owners because how much money should other tax payers have to spend to cope with the problem?"

Pendle councillor Anthony Beckett said: "I think the council should take a stronger line to get the message across to irresponsible dog owners." and in Rossendale, Coun Alan Schofield said: "I think things have improved over the last ten years and what we are left with now is a small ignorant minority.

"As well as the fines I think the council should take a more pragmatic approach and concentrate on keeping it clean because it is difficult to catch this small minority."

Ribble Valley councillor Frank Dyson said: "I think the council have applied pressure over the years but the line needs to be strengthened. We should keep up the pressure on councillors to control these sort of people which the public is clamouring for." Craig Horabin, Hyndburn Council's parks and open space manager, highlights the problems facing local councils when he says: "Limited funds currently dictate that we cannot increase the number of dog bins.

"But we are actively reviewing the location of dog bins and the level of usage, to ensure that we make the most effective use of the ones we already have."

Hyndburn Council's moves have been matched by other East Lancashire authorities, with each council embarking on a blitz of dog poop. During their respective campaigns they have all worked with organisations such as the National Canine Defence League.

David Wright, North West Campaigns Manager for the organisation, said: "It is the duty of dog owners to clean up after their pets and there are no excuses for leaving dog poo in public places. The Dog-Fouling Act 1996 requires dog owners to pick up their pet's mess, with fines of £50 if they don't and up to £1,000 if they are taken to court.

"We have been working with all the boroughs in East Lancashire on various campaigns, including Poop Scoop Week earlier this summer.

"We couldn't say one area was particularly worse than the others in terms of dog fouling, but all councils are as keen as each other to tackle this problem and are doing so with similar successes.

"There seems to be some degree of improvement across the region, through the work we have done with them and their own actions but their work can only be a success with more dog owners taking a responsible attitude and cleaning up after the pets."

Who does what in the battle against dog poo

Blackburn with Darwen

A dog warden service seven days a week, which includes evening and early morning surveillance.

A prosecution will be brought if a warden witnesses a person in control of a dog who allows the pet to foul and who does not pick up the resulting excrement. The council does not issue warnings. There have been 18 prosecutions in the past year.The council has placed 26 dog bins across the borough and ten dog toilets. Anyone wishing to report a problem should ring 01254 585397.

Burnley Council

A dog warden hands out £50 fines for fouling and has regular dog warden patrols. In 2001-2002, 48 fixed penalty notices were issued. Last year the council said it issued 57 and so far this year 13 have been handed out. The council lets the town's park rangers issue on-the-spot fines, hand out free scooper bags to dog owners and hand out leaflets on dog fouling.

A spokesperson for Burnley Council said: "It is down to dog owners to become more responsible."

Chorley Council

The council issued 41 fixed penalty tickets for dog fouling between April 1 2002 and March 31 2003. Of the 41 tickets issued 36 were paid within 14 days and five resulted in prosecution.

The council's Neighbourhood and Environmental Warden Teams deal with dog fouling issues by: issuing fixed penalty notices, erecting 'No Fouling' signs (particularly in problem area), using high profile patrols, posting leaflets to surrounding houses, asking people to report offenders, and attending schools.

Hyndburn Council

The council issued ten fixed penalty notices last year. The council said prosecuting people is a last resort but all dog owners must realise that it is their legal as well as their moral duty to dean up after their dog.

The council issues on-the-spot fines, goes into schools to educate about the dangers of dog poop, inspects the borough for hot-spots, places flags on dog mess and performs covert surveillance to catch and stop irresponsible owners.

Pendle Council

Bryan Thompson, Pendle council's environmental and policy manager, said: "We are planning to introduce a fixed penalty system in the borough in 2004.

"There is already a warden system in operation and around 400 dog bins which are emptied every week. There are no particular hot-spots but wardens respond to individual complaints and liaise with residents if a new bin was requested.

"We also carry out whatever preventative measures we can to try to reduce the problem."

Ribble Valley Council

The Dog Warden Service has served 14 fixed penalty notices, with three in the last 12 months, to offenders who failed to clean up after their dogs.

A spokesperson for the council said that there had been a significant improvement. The council deals with dog fouling issues by: using covert surveillance and CCTV to catch dog-fouling culprits, handing out poop scoops for them to clean it up, and visiting several dog-fouling hot-spots in a special display van.

Rossendale Council

The leader of Rossendale Council, Coun Graham Pearson, said: "Over the last few years we have had a programme of putting the dog bins in places where it is likely that dogs are exercising and it seems to be having some success and persuading owners to more responsible." Offenders are liable to £50 on-the-spot fines. There have been 105 fines since the initiative started three years ago. Three people have been taken to court for non-payment which has led to a £100 fine and £45 court costs.