THREE new dog walking trails have been introduced in Worcester in a bid to reduce the amount of poo left in general litter bins.

Worcester City Council has joined forces with the Dogs Trust charity and Keep Britain Tidy to launch the trails in Perdiswell.

The trails are 2km (20 minutes’ walk), 4km (40 minutes’ walk) and 6km (60 minutes’ walk) and set out from the bottom corner of the Perdiswell Leisure Centre car park, near the canal. Nine dog bins are in place on the routes.

Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: “The Walk this Way approach has led to a marked reduction in the amount of bagged poo littering parks and we’re keen to see if this success can be mirrored in more sites this year.”

Keep Britain Tidy has already set up similar trails in other parts of the UK.  With more bins in place and clearer signs in the Perdiswell area, the city council is aiming for a measurable reduction in dog fouling between now and the end of October.

Keep Britain Tidy research found that 13 per cent of dog owners admitted to leaving bagged dog poo behind on a walk. The most common reason was a lack of nearby bins (54 per cent), followed by forgetting to collect it on their way back (40 per cent) and bins being too full (26 per cent).

Cllr Joy Squires, chair of the council’s Environment Committee, said:  “We’re working with owners to ensure that enough dog bins are in place at popular locations – they are welcome to place bagged poo in normal bins too. There are no excuses for not cleaning up after your dog – and owners who are caught not doing so in Worcester could face a fine.”

The city council recently introduced a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) across the whole of Worcester, requiring any person in charge of a dog to immediately remove the animal’s faeces.

The order also limits to four the number of dogs which can be walked in a public place in Worcester by one person.

Anyone found by council officers to be in breach of the PSPO, could receive a Fixed Penalty Notice of up to £75 or, if prosecuted at court, a fine of up to £1,000.