A PROBE has been called for after it emerged just one dog owner has been fined for letting their dog foul footpaths or parkland over a three-month stretch in Colne.

Several Pendle Borough Council staff have been trained up to serve the £80 penalties for rogue pet owners who fail to clean up after their animals.

The only time a notice was issued in late 2009 was on October 1, for an incident behind Burnley Road in Colne.

And in the previous quarter there was only one penalty charge made, at Foulridge Wharf in Warehouse Lane, Foulridge.

Coun Graham Roach said: “I find it hard to believe that there has only been one fixed penalty notice for dog fouling in Colne.”

Coun Sharon Davies, Colne committee chairman, said: “When the system started off people were being fined all the time but it now it seemed to have quietened down to nothing.”

Coun Mike Calvert said difficulties may have arisen because testimony was often needed people to support prosecutions.

Enviromental officers from Pendle Council will compile a report.