Local councillors want to make it easier for members of the public to report irresponsible dog owners to the local authority, if they let their pets foul the streets and beaches of Tenby.

Discussions on the topic arose at a meeting of Tenby Town Council on Tuesday night, when members received correspondence from Pembrokeshire County Council's head of public protection, Mark Elliott, who sent a document with information on the 'clean neighbourhoods and environment act 2005' and 'dog control orders' regulations in Wales.

"The Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Pembrokeshire County Council have been considering dog fouling in the county," wrote Mr. Elliott, explaining that he was writing to inform local councils of various provisions that may assist them in tackling any dog fouling problem areas.

"The county council is prepared to assist town or community councils who may wish to introduce dog control measures in their areas which could be locally enforced.

"While this approach may not have widespread application, it can be useful when targeted in relation to specific dog-related problems at particular sites, such as where dogs are accessing children's play areas or sports playing fields," continued Mr. Elliott.

After reading the documentation included, Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter agreed that it was very informative, but was also critical of some of its content.

"There's a piece in there that says 'expert advice indicates that the maximum number of dogs that an individual can control is six' - well, I'm sorry, but there is no way that one person could control six dogs at the same time, that is a ridiculous statement. I'd love to know who that expert is," she said.

Deputy Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Caroline Thomas, said that area heading down to the North Beach was more disgusting than ever with dog fouling problems.

"It's very distressing. It's all very well having signage up and threatening fines, but someone needs to be about to dish out the fines," she remarked.

Clr. Will Rossiter said that he had recently witnessed a dog owner let his dog foul in the street along The Esplanade.

"I shouted after this person to clean up the mess, but I was ignored, so I followed that chap to see where he was going and made a note of his address so I could report him, but the problem for members of the public who witness this kind of thing is that there is nowhere for them to report it to. I'd like the county council to put a number on the warning signage so that people can ring there and then and report incidents," he commented.

Clr. Mike Evans said that dog walkers were more than welcome to Tenby, but it was the actions of the irresponsible minority that was causing the problems.

"We have to stress when we write to the county council on this that these problems, although isolated, could jeopardise the Blue Flag status of our beaches, as well as it being unpleasant for us to live in anyway," he said.

"We want to protect our environment as well as our livelihood," continued Clr. Evans, adding that an innovative idea would be to give the county council's traffic wardens who patrol the area the ability to hand out fines and warnings to dog owners they witness letting their dogs foul the area.

Councillors agreed that all suggestions proposed to combat the problem should be sent to the county council.