Town to get its own dog poo squad in a bid to crackdown on mess

A seaside resort is to get its own dog poo squad – in a bid to stop issues with overflowing bins.

Weston Town Council is to employ two ‘environmental services contractors’ to empty its 45 dog poo bins across the resort.

The move comes after the previous contractor ended its contract with the town council earlier this month.

Councillors had been discussing other ways dog mess bins across the town could be emptied since September.

But the decision has now been brought forward, with the town council now taking on responsibility for emptying them.

In the past the bins have been a cause for complaints, with residents claiming they are left overflowing and not emptied regularly enough.

The two new members of staff will each work 16 hours a week.

They will travel the area tasked with the job of emptying all of the bins twice a week.

They will also do other jobs, such as watering plants in the parks and green spaces managed and owned by the town council as well as supporting the existing grounds maintenance team.

Weston Town Council clerk Malcolm Nicholson said: “One of the roles is an existing vacancy within the grounds maintenance team.

“The other will be a new role which we will be recruiting for.”

All collected waste will be taken to the waste transfer station in Weston for disposal.

The new roles will be funded with the money which had been used to pay contractors to do the  job.

If the plan works well the town council may look at offering its service to other neighbouring parishes, many who currently use contractors to empty poo bins.

This one's basic - pick up after your pooch (Getty)

Mr Nicholson added: “It may be that in some cases, where it is deemed necessary, that once the staff are in place, we can look at increasing the number of times each week the bins are collected.”

North Somerset Council will continue to empty its 50 plus bins across the resort.

The authority withdrew its emptying service district wide several years ago to save costs, meaning town and parish councils had to make their own arrangements.

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