In October, Cheshire East Council vowed to get tough on dog fouling, saying it will 'not be complacent' when it comes to tackling the problem.
The authority reminded irresponsible dog owners that anyone failing to pick up their dog's mess will receive a £50 fine but it doesn't seem to have made much difference in the village.
Local resident Andrew Palmer contacted prestbury.com saying "Despite Prestbury being a prosperous area inhabited by ostensibly respectable people, we still have a problem with irresponsible dog owners allowing their dogs to foul pavements and footpaths.
"This includes areas popular with children including Bollin Grove (near the school where hundreds of children walk every day), the Edge at Alderley, the fields and walkways at Bridge Green and the snicket which runs from the village to Meadow drive.
"Quite frankly, allowing dogs to foul is disgusting, selfish and merits the same social disapproval as drink driving, speeding and smoking in public places. It should not be tolerated under any circumstances and as a community we should not allow our lovely village to be spoiled by irresponsible dog owners."
I contacted Cheshire East Council to ask how many times the community wardens have visited Prestbury in the past 12 months and how many fixed penalty notices have been issued here.
In the past 12 months community wardens have visited the village on 33 occasions and two fines have been issued, one in October and a second in November.
A Cheshire East Council spokesman said: "Dog fouling is unacceptable and we will continue to adopt a zero tolerance approach. We will not hesitate to penalise dog owners as part of tough action against fouling.
"We would like to assure all dog owners and the wider community that we will not become complacent. We must persevere with efforts to rid our parks and open spaces of dog mess."
Clearly fixed penalties and the "tough action" have not been an effective deterrent in Prestbury, or in Alderley Edge where irresponsible dog owners are causing a big problem. Possibly due to a lack of enforcement, or maybe because £50 is not a sufficient amount.
A number of other local authorities around the country already have a higher penalty fee of £75 and one frustrated council in Lancashire recently asked the government to consider changing the law so that it could issue fines of £1,000. Perhaps Cheshire East should follow suit.
What do you think about the dog fouling in Prestbury, do you consider it to be a big problem in the village?
Do you think the fixed penalty should be increased or do you have any other ideas for tackling this problem?
Share your opinion in the comments below.
