'We're fed up with dog poo on Kettering estate - so we're giving pet owners no excuse'

Kettering estate residents who are fed up of side-stepping dog poo are taking action to give pet owners no excuse for not picking it up.

Those living on the Highfield estate are leaving bags attached to lamp-posts after parents complained about having to dodge mess on the school run.

Amy Kelsey decided to start the initiative after coming across faeces while taking her daughter Emi-Leigh, seven, to Greenfields Primary School.

She said: “It’s like a minefield and you have to dodge the poo on the pavements.

"If a child steps in that on the way to school they’ll smell of it and it’s awful. It’s a shame for the children.

"Adults can see it but sometimes kids are in a world of their own and don’t spot it.”

Dog lover Amy, 31, has already attached plastic bottles filled with poo bags to more than 10 estate lamp-posts with notices saying ‘please pick up your dog poo’, while other residents have targeted further areas.

She wants to see more bins on the estate – saying there aren’t enough in certain areas – and would like to see signs put up saying ‘any bin will do’.

Amy has urged fellow Highfield estate residents online to fill any bottles up, if they are running low and if they are able to do so.

She said: “I want to do the whole estate really. I thought it would be a good idea to put some bags out so anyone who forgets to take one with them can still pick it up.”

A Freedom of Information request by the Northants Telegraph last year revealed that, between January and November, North Northamptonshire Council had received 72 dog fouling complaints in the Kettering district. Anyone who fails to clear up after their dog can be issued with a fixed penalty notice of up to £100 and, if the case goes to court, this could cost the owner or person in charge of the animal up to £1,000.

But despite the complaints nobody was given a fixed penalty notice for dog fouling in the Kettering district.

In December Cllr Jason Smithers (Con), leader of North Northamptonshire Council, said: “Council officers regularly undertake patrols for dog fouling, concentrating on those areas where reports have been received indicating that there are issues.

“The council takes the matter of dog fouling seriously and takes a graduated enforcement approach. Resources are focused on education, aimed at changing people’s behaviour rather than formal enforcement in the first instance.

"Where there is clear evidence of an offence however, council officers will take formal action, in the form of fixed penalty notices or community protection warnings.”

But Cllr Anne Lee (Lab) said: “Lack of enforcement is one of NNC's Achilles’ heels ...where are the exemplary fines?

"Litter louts and dog walkers who fail to pick up their dog's mess should be publicly fined and shamed...I understand the council needs to set priorities, but it affects the quality of our living environment.”