IRRESPONSIBLE dog owners who let their pets foul without cleaning it up could face an on-the-spot fine if they are caught.

Pendle Council is hoping to recruit officers who will issue fixed penalty notices as part of a new zero tolerance campaign to tackle the problem.

The environment, leisure and rural affairs review committee was asked to look into the issue of dog muck in the borough and how to reduce the number of complaints about it.

Councillors are keen to see irresponsible pet owners who do not scoop their dog's poop issued with fines.

Councillor David Whipp said: "It's 23 years since I came to this council with this suggestion, but it was laughed out of court. We also wanted to provide poop scoops for the people of the borough, the councillors thought it was a huge joke. There wasn't anything done about it at that point.

"In the years since then we have managed to get a change of opinion. Poop scoops have been issued by the town councils to hundreds of thousands if not millions of dog owners.

"That must have made an impact on the problem in the borough. We also have dog waste bins in the borough, so there is little excuse for anyone who owns a dog to foul public spaces and the pavement and not clean it up.

"I hope we can put officers into place and issue fixed penalty notices and punish these people."

Councillor Frank Clifford called for an education programme to be introduced at school level and added: "There is no place at all for this wrong behaviour. We need to carry out educational work in our schools because it is the youngsters who are the owners of dogs and they have the responsibility for them."

Councillors suggest following the model adopted by Burnley Council, which has seen a dramatic reduction in the number of complaints in dog fouling since it adopted in April 2001.

Burnley Council issued 39 notices in the first year and 63 in the second. Approximately 90 per cent had been paid in full, although the income generated is kept by central government.