Last week the Herald reported that angry parents had been demanding the council takes action against dog owners who allow their pets to foul the pavement.

Members of the public had contacted the paper, claiming the unsightly and unhygienic problem has escalated in the past few months.

And they accused Eastbourne Borough Council of not cracking down on the issue — despite new hard-hitting dog laws brought into force last month.
Nearby Hastings Borough Council revealed it had two prosecutions in the pipeline and had handed out 21 fixed penalty notices in the last 12 months.

In contrast, Eastbourne has no prosecutions pending and has handed out only two notices in the past year.

However, a council spokesman said plenty of effort was being put into prevention.

"To date two fixed penalty notices have been issued for dog fouling and to date no prosecutions have been taken or are pending," he said.

"However, this does not reflect the significant amount of work carried out by both environmental health and the council's enforcement team in terms of both reactive and pro-active action in deterring dog fouling and other antisocial behaviour which has resulted in 26 fixed penalty notices being issued for littering and fly posting offences in the same period.

"The dog welfare officer patrols the parks and other areas on a daily basis as well as responding to complaints from members of the public.

"Both areas of work are dealt with initially on an informal/educational basis and only very persistent offenders would be considered for formal action through the service of a notice.

"Following the introduction of the new Dog Control Orders into the borough a number of additional officers are now designated to serve fixed penalty notices should they witness the incidence of dog fouling and it is likely that a greater number of people who allow their dog to foul without picking up the mess may receive a fixed penalty notice in the future."