A football club has applied for an all out dog ban on the site of its pitch – to tackle dog owners who fail to clean up after their pets.
Bosses at St George Easton-in-Gordano Football Club have applied to North Somerset Council for a dog ban on the land at Priory Road.
The pitch has a public right of way running through it meaning it is often used by people to exercise their dogs.
A by-law stating all dogs should be kept on leads at the site is also in force.
However, this is often ignored.
Club officials regularly have to carry out sweeps of the pitch before games can be played. And on several occasions matches have had to be stopped while poo is cleaned up.
An application for a dog ban – along with a petition from the club – has been submitted to North Somerset Council.
However a decision is unlikely to be made until later this year.
A spokesman for the club said: “We are applying for a total ban on dogs as people are not respecting the dogs are to be kept on a lead law and are not picking up after themselves.
“Obviously it is not all dog walkers but the few ruin it for the many.
“We have had to stop every game twice sometimes more due to finishing dog mess on the pitch even after we've had a look and cleared up before the game.
“We have had one situation a couple of years ago where one of our players slid through dog mess and ran straight off the pitch into the shower.”
A raft of bylaws banning dogs from certain public areas were introduced in 2012 following a public consultation.
Anyone caught not picking up after their dog faces an £80 fine.
Those which don’t pay the fine can be taken to court where the penalty can be increased to £1,000.
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Dog owners are only exempt from cleaning mess if they're blind or disabled.
A North Somerset Council spokesman said: "We'll be reviewing our Public Space Protection Orders this year and Easton-in-Gordano Parish Council has requested that we consider a dog ban on this site.
"The proposal would be subject to a public consultation.
"If approved it would come into effect later this year."
