Dog poo painter told to 'cease and desist' by owner Published duration 6 November 2019

image copyright Steam Coast Trail image caption Steam Coast Trail, which owns the land, has warned the person on its Facebook page to "cease and desist"

A dog poo vigilante who spray-painted rings around dog mess on a coastal path has been told to stop doing it.

About 15 piles of poo on the Washford path, near Watchet, in Somerset, were circled in white paint last month.

Steam Coast Trail, which owns the land, has warned the person on its Facebook page to "cease and desist" as they "do not have permission to do this".

Sarah Ellwood, from the charity, said: "It's permanent paint and looks really unsightly - what were they thinking?"

The 1km (0.6 mile) path, which runs between Old Cleeve and Washford, opened a year ago.

Since then, the charity has had to post several messages on its Facebook page asking owners to pick up after their pets and not to chuck dog mess bags on to the railway.

image copyright Jake Bale image caption The 1km (0.6 mile) path, which runs between Old Cleeve and Washford, opened a year ago

image copyright Steam Coast Trail image caption The white paint will now have to be scrubbed off the path or painted over by the charity

"I didn't think it was a massive problem at the Washford end of the path," said Ms Ellwood.

"But when I inspected the path and saw 15 rings sprayed in cheap white paint on the black tarmac I was really angry."

She said she did not know who has done it, but the paint looks "pretty permanent".

"Now that all the poo has gone we've been left with unsightly white circles all over the path," she said.

"I'm sure whoever did it, that wasn't what they intended, but it's now going to cost time and money to scrub it off or paint over them in black paint."