A £30,000 attempt to place up to 80 dog poo bins across Worcester has been rejected, sparking dismay.

Worcester's Conservative group has tried to force through a huge 35 per cent increase in the number of dog mess bins in the city, saying the muck is posing a serious health hazard.

The party says the current tally of 230 is not enough, with parents on the school run and other pedestrians fed up of dodging pooch mess.

But a bid to get the spending included in the council's 2017/18 budget has fallen apart after Labour and Green councillors failed to back it.

Both parties say the bid was an 'election ploy' - and insist the council hasn't got the resources to empty the extra bins even if it wanted to.

Worcester News:

It comes despite Worcester having more than 1,000 reports of dog mess on city streets in just two months via a new app called PooWatch.

Councillor Marc Bayliss, Conservative group leader, said: "That money would have provided for 50 to 80 new bins, and for several years of emptying them as well.

"It's bizarre, but then Labour is a party that doesn't recognise how important the environment is in Worcester - whenever they have been in charge, they have pulled away from it.

"I am very disappointed the Greens didn't support it either."

Labour Councillor Adrian Gregson, the city's leader, has accused the Tory group of seeking "something to put on their election leaflets".

"That £30,000 would have paid for 150 new bins - first of all we don't need 150 new dog bins in Worcester," he said.

"Every time you get just one new bin, you've got to fit it into a cleaning regime.

"There was no plan, no analysis and no work done on the areas where they might be needed, that's why we didn't support it - all it is, is something to put on their election leaflets."

Green Councillor Louis Stephen suggested the Conservatives called for it to try and keep the Bedwardine ward in May's county council elections.

"We take the view that whenever I've asked for a dog bin, even before I became a councillor, it's been done - the council doesn't refuse any reasonable requests," he said.

"Why the Conservatives did this, might be something to do with the campaign going on in Bedwardine."

In Bedwardine Councillor Alan Amos, a former Labour politician who defected back to his old Tory Party, is going up against former West Worcestershire Labour parliamentary candidate Dan Walton.

Dog mess in the area has been an issue - although PooWatch has highlighted concerns about muck across the city.

Since the app was launched in November 'hotspots' have been revealed in Tennis Walk, Chestnut Walk, Tolladine Road and Northwick Road.

Northwick Park, Becket Road, Dugdale Drive, Cobden Avenue, Bright Avenue, Holly Mount, Gheluvelt Park and St Stephen’s Terrace are among the areas with regular reports of mess from the public.

We revealed last month how the council has placed litter bins across the city under 'review'.

* Does Worcester need more dog mess bins, and where? Email te@worcesternews.co.uk or call 01905 742248.