NOT cleaning up after your dog not only makes Worcester look bad, it can also have horrifying consequences.

Dog fouling is regularly a hot topic for residents in the city, who get upset with dog owners’ lack of thought in not clearing up after themselves and making paths, pavements and parks look bad.

But for Dr Chris Catchpole it is more than just the aesthetics which are upsetting: as a consultant microbiologist at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, he knows the problem can go much further.

He can list numerous different parasites which make their home in dog faeces, the most serious of which – the roundworm toxocara canis – can leave people seriously ill and at risk of losing their sight.

Worst of all, the people affected by such a parasite are likely to be children.

“It is much more common in children because children tend to play in contaminated dirt and sand more than adults,” Dr Catchpole said.

“People have done surveys of the earth and sand in parks and found the eggs of these worms – the most likely source of which is from dog faeces.”

But parents should not panic about letting their children play in the park just yet: nationally there are only about 10 cases a year, although that is probably an underestimation as much of the time infections can display no symptoms.

All the same, Dr Catchpole believes people would be far quicker to clean up their dog mess were they aware of the problems it can cause.

“It is a very reasonable thing to do, to clear up after your dog,” he said.