A DISGUSTED councillor has accused council bosses of presiding over a “total failure” to deal with a growing problem of dog fouling.

The council’s dog wardens regularly patrol seafronts across the district and have the power to take action against people who do not pick up their dog’s waste.

But after a question posed by district councillor Pam Morrison (Labour), it was revealed the authority has failed to issue any fixed penalty notices against offenders this year.

Michael Talbot (Independent Group) councillor responsible for environment, said it is “difficult” to prove someone has committed an offence.

He said: “If the dog warden does not witness the offence taking place and has no supporting evidence produced or available, such as CCTV or a mobile phone recording, it is very difficult to prove somebody has committed an offence.”

Mr Talbot confirmed there are only two dog wardens employed by the council, responsible for patrolling the whole district.

An initiative to issue fixed penalty notices of £50 to offenders was launched in 2015.

He pointed out the wardens have numerous other duties to attend to, including the collection of stray dogs, visiting the vets with injured dogs, microchipping and responding to nuisance complaints.

He added: “We will be conducting some patrols outside of normal office hours to show a presence and take action against hose who ignore their responsibility to pick up after their dog.

“We are also working towards replacing the old by-laws regarding dog fouling with a new public space protection order.

Mrs Morrison said: “We blame him for this situation and not the dog wardens, who are being denied the necessary resources to provide the level of service that residents are entitled to.”