Last updated at 14:59, Friday, 20 April 2012

YOUNG rugby aces are in danger of sliding in the dog mess which litters their pitch.

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INCENSED: Barrow Island rugby coach John Jefferson with junior club members who are sick of dog mess on their pitch at Ostley Bank. From left, Jack Griffiths, Ryan and Molly Higgins and Daniel Griffiths JON GRANGER REF: 50032276B000

As part of the Evening Mail’s month-long Scoop the Poop campaign, we spoke to coaches at Barrow Island Junior Rugby League club who are angry at irresponsible dog owners who let their animals foul on the playing surface.

Gary Salt, who coaches the under-10s, discovered two lots of mess on the junior pitch ahead of training this week.

After picking his jacket off the floor he noticed it was caked in dog dirt and had to inspect the rest of the pitch for any more.

He said: “The dog mess was right in the playing area.

“The pitch is an enclosed area so people are actually opening the fence to get on, when they’re not supposed to. They’re letting their dogs run riot.

“If one of the kids fell in the mess, it could have serious implications. It’s disgusting.

“The problem has been getting worse and worse over the last 12 months but it’s gone too far now.

“I didn’t enjoy picking it up but you have the kids’ welfare to think of.”

Bins at the club are emptied by committee members – not Barrow Borough Council.

A message has been posted on bins at the club, asking people to take their dog mess home instead of putting it in their bins.

Yet despite the request, club stalwart and coach coordinator John Jefferson said he was incensed to find full bags of dog mess left beside it.

Mr Jefferson said: “There is a council bin just outside the gate. But we’ve got to empty our bins ourselves and take them to the tip, which is why we wrote ‘no dog muck’ on them. People just ignore it. When I went this week, the bin was full and someone had left bags of mess by the bin.

“The majority of people who go up there with dogs are brilliant. All we want them to do is take their dog’s muck home with them.”

First published at 15:30, Friday, 13 April 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk