Hastings Greens are told to take down their dog poo bag dispensers

The dispensers – plastic drinks bottles with a panel cut out and filled with dog poo bags – are attached to lamp posts and street signs in popular dog-walking areas. Each bottle carries a notice asking users to notify their local Green councillor or candidate if the bags need topping up.

Now the local Greens have received a formal letter from East Sussex County Council instructing them to remove the dispensers.

‘Everyone complains about dog mess,’ says Cllr Glenn Haffenden, deputy leader of Hastings Borough Council, who encouraged the local Green Party to get behind the scheme after seeing an example made by a friend in Hastings. ‘I thought this was a really smart idea, a positive way of encouraging owners to clear up after their dogs. We’ve had loads of good comments.

‘Hastings Borough Council is responsible for clearing dog mess, and East Sussex is not helping. I wish the County Council would focus more on doing things like repairing our roads and pavements. This is incredibly petty.’

‘Dog poo bag bottles are not permitted to be placed on our street furniture,’ insisted an ESCC Licensing and Enforcement officer.

If you like the idea and want to make your own dog poo bag dispenser – to be attached to your gatepost – then contact [email protected] for details.