Members of the public have been encouraged to report anyone spotted in Tenby letting their dog foul and failing to pick it up.

The matter was discussed at Tuesday night’s meeting of the town council, after members received correspondence from a resident of St. John’s Hil, who said that she and her family were ‘increasingly worried’ about the amount of dog mess on the streets of the town and the lack of action taken by the authorities to do anything about it.

Just before Christmas, Catherine Evans wrote in her letter, that she was in town with her sister-in-law and with three children, when they had to avoid dog mess several times on the way into town from St. John’s Hill, past the lifeboat station, and down to the North Beach.

“It was absolutely disgusting,” she remarked. “I have made a number of complaints to the county council. The people I have spoken to have been very friendly, however I have seen no difference since making the complaints since last September.

“I spoke to the dog warden last November. She informed me that I was the only person who was raising dog fouling as an issue! I can’t see this is the case, as there is dog poo on that stretch of my road every time I walk along it!

“When I spoke to the dog warden about what could be done to tackle the problem, she stated that she only worked part-time, and that the dog fouling was probably happening outside of her working hours.

“She wanted me or a neighbour in the area to look out for any culprits and either take a picture of the dog owner, or identify where they lived, before she would be able to do anything about it.

“I think that this is completely unacceptable, I know there are other councils that employ their dog wardens out of working hours to ensure that problem areas are tackled appropriately. Some even have night vision cameras to catch the relevant dog owners.

“I feel that something needs to be done in Tenby to ensure that the council is providing an effective service to their residents,” she added.

Responding to the letter, Clr. Trevor Hallett agreed that St. John’s Hill was a problem area.

“I walk this road often very early, and there is nothing there, but when I come back down, it can be covered in dog mess!

“Lots of school children walk to school through that route. It’s a damned disgrace! We need someone to catch the culprits with a camera,” he remarked.

The town clerk, Andrew Davies, told members that he had been in contact with Pembrokeshire County Council’s principal environmental health officer, Tom Hayes, who had agreed to arrange more dog warden patrols in the St. John’s Hill area, as well as the Heywood Lane area, where there had also been a lot of complaints about dog fouling.

He said that there had recently been a significant number of penalty fines issued in Saundersfoot to offenders, based on witness statements from members of the public.

“This is clearly an issue in Tenby, and the responsibility of individuals. Prosecutions have been achieved in Saundersfoot for dog fouling, so if residents in Tenby gather the right type of information and evidence, they can report any matters,” said the Mayor, Clr. Laurence Blackhall.