IRRESPONSIBLE dog owners in the Wellington area are being warned they could be heavily fined for not picking up their dog’s mess.

Lyn Partridge-Webber of Wellington Action Group for Dogs (WAG) says a dog owner in Weston-super-Mare has been fined more than £300 for failing to pick up after his dog.

A member of the public filmed Carl Davies failing to clean up his dog’s mess on the Beach Lawns and sent the film to North Somerset Council.

The council tried to deal with the matter through fixed penalty notices but Davies declined to pay them and so the council took the case to court.

Davies pleaded not guilty to three offences of failing to pick up after his dog on the seafront.

But following legal argument about the admissibility of video evidence and a two-day trial at North Somerset Magistrates’ Court, District Judge David Taylor found Davies guilty of all

three offences.

Davies was fined £100 for each offence. He was also ordered to pay a £30 victim surcharge and £3,873 in costs to North Somerset Council – a total of £4,203.

Lyn said: “These days most people have a phone with a camera – wouldn’t it be good if these irresponsible owners knew about this big fine?

“Maybe they would be a little more responsible, never knowing if someone was filming them, and that it would be allowed to be used in court.”