A HANDYMAN has voiced his anger after cleaning up more than 700 bags containing dog faeces from just two Lake District car parks.

Robin Lees, 66, who is employed 10 hours a week by Lakes Parish Council, says he has had to clear away 738 bags from the White Moss car parks at Rydal. This is in addition to more than 100 picked up by local school children during a litter pick.

Mr Lees , whose patch covers an area of 54 square miles from Grasmere in the north to Troutbeck, near Windermere, in the south, including the Langdale Valley and Ambleside, says the problem is not just confined to the Rydal area.

His official tasks also include painting benches and road signs, jobs that he has had to push back in order to pick up litter, which he estimates he spends 80 per cent of his time on.

According to Mr Lees, dog walkers who fail to find a bin leave rubbish in a heap, chuck the bags into hedgerows and bushes or stuff them in walls. He says that because most of the bags are non-biodegradable, they have to be picked up and taken away.

Besides bags containing dog mess, Mr Lees has also cleaned up disposable nappies, clothing, tents and used condoms.

“I do enjoy my job,” said Mr Lees, who has been in the post for six years. “My remit is ‘to make a difference.’ Unfortunately the majority of that time is taken up by picking up rubbish, in particular used dog poo bags.”

“It’s such a shame because this is a beautiful area," said Mr Lees. "A bus load of Japanese tourists coming to see the Lake District have to walk through this car park. It’s shameful.”

Andrew Fox, the estate manager for Lowther Estate, which owns the White Moss car parks, said he was ‘concerned’ about dog fouling in the area. He said that he had contacted the Lake District National Park Authority for advice regarding installing a special bin but was told that appropriate signage should be an adequate measure.

Mr Fox said that the estate would continue to try to resolve the matter.

“At the moment we have done as much as we can in terms of the signage," said Mr Fox. "People are asked to take their fouling home with them following a walk, which doesn’t appear to be working.”