THERE may be a penalty of up to £1,000 for it, but dog owners who let their pooches foul Swindon’s parks and streets have not been fined for more than a year.

The council is not able to serve fixed penalty notices to deal with dog fouling in the town and said that taking those responsible to court was a costly option.

But it can seize dogs whose owners let them make a mess on the pavement.

Earlier this year, following a Freedom of Information request, the Adver revealed that only two people had been fined for failing to pick up their dog’s faeces in the town since 2005 and nobody had been fined since December 2009.

A Swindon Council spokesman said: “We are not able to serve fixed penalty notices to deal with dog fouling in Swindon as we are reliant on earlier powers, which entail taking people to court. Fines are limited and there is no prospect of recovering our legal costs, which can amount to more than £1,000.

“Our dog warden spends most of the day recovering stray dogs, which in itself reduces fouling.

“Fixing warning notices in problem areas, parking the dog van in a prominent place and engaging with dog walkers are all effective measures which we can manage within our limited resources.

“In some areas, much of the fouling is done by urban foxes and therefore is not something we can influence.

“If dog owners let their dog out to make a mess on the pavement, we can seize the dog – however, we rely on members of the public to tell us when they see this happening.

“Introducing Dog Control Orders, to introduce penalty notices, in any part of Swindon would automatically wipe out the powers we currently have right across the borough so we are focusing our efforts on education and ensuring that dog owners place their dog waste in any litter bin or in their general refuse when they get home.”

The council removes four tonnes of waste from the 241 bins around the town, plus 175 in other parishes, which works out at approximately 200 tonnes a year.

The process costs the council about £50,000 a year.

The Adver visited Covingham Park, Smitan Brook Park, the Polo Ground in Marlborough Road, Faringdon Park, Meadowcroft Park, and the park off St Philips Road and found several incidents of dog fouling, but the worst was Nightingale Woods, where the number of incidents were in double figures in less than 300 yards of the entrance – where there is a dog bin.

Marie O’Sullivan, 30, of Walcot, is a mother of five and has seen dog owners leaving their dogs’ mess behind in Covingham Park.

“I say ‘there’s kids about can you pick your mess up?’. They act like you haven’t said anything. It happens a few times a week,” she said.

“I think they should get a fine. It’s not just the fact it is a mess, kids can get hold of it. We have got young children – we’ve got a two-year-old who goes and picks up anything.”

Grace Hill, 69, of Moredon, walks her daughter’s dog, Lucy, around Faringdon Park.

“It isn’t too bad here. The majority of people pick it up and if they see somebody who doesn’t they will say ‘excuse me’. I do myself. A lot of us regulars take an extra bag and if we see it we pick it up,” she said.