DOG fouling continues to be a real problem in the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area and councillors are planning to do something about it.

Cowdenbeath Area Committee heard that there had been 99 complaints from members of the public about fouling in parks and on pavements over a six month period.

In Fife as a whole there had been 499 complaints lodged about fouling over the same period and councillors agreed that it was a problem that was not going away.

Lochs councillor Ann Bain said that she saw from the report that only one fixed penalty notice had been issued in connection with dog fouling despite the fact that there had been 99 complaints.

Mrs Bain added: "There is no doubt that it continues to be a real problem in Kelty and I regularly get residents complaining about it at surgeries.

"To have only one fixed penalty issued suggests that there is something wrong with the way we are tackling this.

"I ask myself if there is something wrong with our system as it is a live problem but only one ticket issued."

The Community Safety Partnership's, Paul Coleman, said that if dog owner can be identified as having failed to pick up after their animal then a ticket would be issued.

He said: "It is not easy because often the situation occurs when there are not many people around.

"If people see fouling occurring and know who is involved and they inform us we can issue a penalty."

Committee chairman, Councillor Mark Hood, felt that penalties were a fair enough way of tackling the problem but more was needing to be done.

He commented: "What we really need to get to grips with this is an 18 month rolling programme because the fact is that dog fouling is a huge problem in our area.

"And part of that has to be education. A lot of dog owners strictly abide by the pick-it-up requirements but there are too many that do not.

"The fact is that dog fouling poses a health hazard but too few people seem to be aware of this.

"If we can educate people on the facts of the dangers of not cleaning up after their animal it might make an impact."

It was agreed that a report be brought to the committee on how best to tackle dog fouling in the Cowdenbeath Area.