Calling all pooper snoopers!

Residents are being urged to stamp out dog fouling - by snitching on anyone who fails to pick up their pooch's poop.

Hundreds of leaflets are now being printed up by Southend Council to be dispatched to schools across the borough.

They include a form where snoopers can note the date, time, location and a description of the offender and report it.

A council officer will then use the information to lay in wait and catch the culprit in the act in order to hit them with an £80 fixed penalty notice.

Tony Cox, Southend councillor for public protection and waste, said: “The problem is we can’t issue a fine unless we see someone in the act. “But dogs are habitual creatures, if they do it on one day there’s a very high chance that on every subsequent day that will happen within that period.

“If you give the intelligence to the council a member of the Eco Team will go there and observe.”

He said the idea to appeal to parents via schools had come from a ten-year-old pupil at Bournes Green junior school who had spoken up during a debate at Shoeburyness High School, which schools and councillors had been invited to, earlier this year.

There have been particular problems recently along the Cinder Path in Leigh and Gravel Road, Eastwood. The problem was raised at the latest meeting of Leigh Crime Prevention Panel.

Councillor Chris Walker, who is a member of the panel, said: “I think the only reason people don’t clear up is sheer laziness. If council officers come out and catch people at it then it’s good.”