IN the past few years, there has been a sea change in the habits of dog owners.

Our paths, streets and parks are far cleaner than they used to be – but not clean enough.

There is still a minority of irresponsible owners who let their dogs foul in public places and don’t bag it and bin it.

These anti-social people cannot pretend that they are ignorant of the law. Bins and warning signs are placed prominently all over East Lancashire.

Council bosses in Burnley are quite right to decide that they now have to adopt a ‘zero tolerance’ attitude to make the borough a greener, cleaner and safer place to live.

The new tougher stance means already that 20 people have been prosecuted in the first three months of the year, compared with 28 for the whole of 2010.

And in the latest action, eight people were fined a total of £1,400 at Reedley Magistrates’ Court.

It’s not just the visual appearance of the area that makes it imperative that dog owners behave properly.

The health risks to children of dog dirt are proven and quite horrifying, especially as they are totally avoidable.