A group of five volunteers collected almost 200 discarded dog poos in a few hours left behind by careless owners.

The group was responding to pleas from the children and young people of Stretham to clean up the mess left behind by a handful of owners in the village.

The youngsters had taken part in a charity litter pick in the village a few weeks ago and had been disgusted at the amount of dog waste on the pavements and footpaths of Stretham and nearby walkways.

One of the team who set about cleaning up the dog mess, Jim Baddeley, said: “They had wanted to pick it up along with the litter but we just couldn’t allow the children to do that because it’s a huge health risk for them with the possibility of contracting toxicariasis from the stools of unwormed dogs.

“If they put their fingers in their mouth after playing in it, this can cause blindness. We felt we needed to step up and get the village cleaned up so it is safe for children to play in.”

The team set out with gloves and bags and, over two hours, collected 189 discarded dog poos left by irresponsible owners along the village footpaths and pavements.

Jim said, “Stretham is a lot cleaner now but the gloves really are off as far the many responsible dog owners in the village are concerned.

“ We hope that the handful of local dog owners who do not pick up the mess left by their dogs and those who just bag it up and then leave it on the pavement for someone else to sort out realise how anti-social they have been and change their ways.”