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Two Wirral dog owners are out of pocket to the tune of £400 each after failing to pick up their pet’s mess.

Both owners were found guilty in their absence at Wirral Magistrates Court after being caught letting their dogs mess on the street and then failing to pay a fixed penalty notice issued to them at the time.

When confronted by the council’s dog fouling enforcement team, both admitted that they did not have a bag with them to pick up the mess left by their furry friends.

Magistrates handed down fines to each of the defendants of £260 and they both must also pay costs of £150 and a victim surcharge of £30.

One of the offences occurred last October outside the Aldi store on Laird Street, Birkenhead , while in the other the dog owner was observed failing to pick up mess when they were walking their dog along Egremont Promenade in the same month.

The court also heard that both defendants had previously been convicted of litter offences by Wirral Magistrates, again in their absence.

Cllr Phillip Brightmore, Cabinet member for Environment, said: “We have a beautiful borough and all have a responsibility to keep it that way. There is simply no excuse for leaving dog mess behind in a public place – it is irresponsible and disgusting and whenever our enforcement officers see it they will issue a fixed penalty notice, as they did in these two incidents.

“What our actions in these cases demonstrate is that we will pursue offenders who subsequently fail to pay the fixed penalty all the way through to the courts where they will end up with a criminal conviction. To the minority of irresponsible owners who continue to leave their dog’s mess behind I say it’s simply not worth the risk – please, just bag it and bin it.”

Enforcement officers working on behalf of Wirral Council issued 263 fixed penalty notices for dog fouling in 2017.

Cllr Brightmore added: “Responsible dog owners and other residents consistently tell me that dog fouling is one of the most important issues they want to see the council tackle in their area. I am confident that we have their support for the hard-line approach we take towards offenders. Wirral Council will not tolerate any form of environmental crime.”

Like Liverpool City Council, Wirral Council works with private environmental enforcement company Kingdom in its operations to clean up the borough.