INSPIRED by Sophie Neville’s words in last week’s Gazette (Podium, November 14, 'Why not collect a few items of litter daily?') and disgusted by the pavement in front of me this morning, I decided to pick up five minutes' worth of litter. The attached photo shows what I achieved!

Such a successful litter pick in such a short space of time really should not be possible in such a beautiful village as Arnside.

In addition to the items on the photo were three piles of dog poo mixed in with the fallen leaves. These were difficult to see, making an autumnal walk along this stretch of pavement a kind of dirty, pedestrian version of Russian roulette, when it is sometimes preferable to walk in the road than to arrive at your destination with stinking footwear.

I only know the camouflaged dog poo was there because my lovely (and disgusting!) adopted dog is particularly drawn to the stuff, and never fails to spot it.

The nearby Ashmeadow grounds, and also Redhills Wood, both beautiful places to walk a dog, have become so full of uncleared dog poo that my dog now wears a muzzle when I take her off the lead in there. It’s the only way I can keep her healthy, try to avoid another huge vet bill and begin to train her to leave it.

Another alternative, of course, would be if all other owners simply cleared up after their dogs. Now there’s a good idea!

S Gibbs

Arnside