YOUNGSTERS at an Ulverston primary school are getting the message across about the impact of dog fouling.

Children at Church Walk CE School have been designing posters to put up in the area to encourage walkers to make sure they pick up after their pets.

The school has worked with South Lakeland District Council’s (SLDC’s) street scene team, Ulverston Town Council and local PCSO Izzy Roberts on a competition to come up with a poster to get the anti-fouling message across.

Four winning designs have been selected that will now be made up into posters to be put up.

The overall winner was Tara Pearson, aged eight.

She said: “I’m so happy I won and grateful for my prize. I hope everyone who has a dog remembers to clean up after them.”

Runners-up in the competition were Charlie Macleod and Jessica Bailey, while Grace Smith won a special prize.

All received a certificate and book tokens, donated by the town council, which were presented at an assembly at the school by Ulverston’s Mayor, Cllr Mark Wilson.

Cllr Wilson said:“This sends a clear message to those who continue to not clear up after their dogs – we will not tolerate dog fouling and we are working together to remedy this problem.”

Town councillor for the Ulverston North ward Caroline Tennyson approached SLDC with concerns about the amount of dog fouling in the area.

SLDC officers responded with increased patrols on streets with reported problems and discussed the idea of involving the school in a project to raise awareness of the issue.

They also visited the school with some dogs from the council’s kennelling contractor to talk about responsible dog ownership.

SLDC enforcement officer Sue Scott explained: “It’s not possible to have enforcement officers patrolling all areas all the time and we can only issue fines to owners that fail to pick up after their dogs if we catch them ‘in the act’.

“We therefore work with police PCSOs and target our enforcement activities on areas that are reported to us as having problems and we rely on the public’s help to let us know where there are issues.”

Church Walk School headteacher Susan Davies added: “We are delighted to be support this project as many of the children have stepped in dog mess on their way to school.”