THE first prosecutions for dog-fouling since the launch of a council crackdown have now gone before the courts.

Four owners were found guilty in their absence on Monday at Wirral Magistrates Court after they did not pay their on-the-spot fine and have been ordered to pay £400 each.

Cabinet member for environment, Cllr Bernie Mooney, said: “Wirral Council is taking a zero tolerance approach and pursuing this matter through the court is an important development as it shows that when we pledged to use all of the powers we have at our disposal to address dog fouling, we meant business.”

This is the first set of cases to go to court since the council’s partnership with Kingdom the organisation hired by the town hall to implement its crackdown.

Director of Kingdom’s environmental protection division Michael Fisher said: “Our aim is to patrol in an ‘intelligence-led’ manner focusing our controls on identified litter hot-spots operating a robust but always proportionate methodology to tackle the problem, using a wide range of technical support including body worn cameras and a ‘real time’ capability of verifying details provided in the event of transgressions being identified.”

Since the initiative began in May, 38 people have been issued with penalty notices.

But eyebrows were raised in July when Kingdom said Wirral dog-owners were top of the UK poop-scoop league.

The organisation announced they had never before encountered such a high level of compliance with the law.

A spokesman said at the time: "It does appear that the vast majority of dog owners in Wirral go out of their way to ensure public spaces are kept clean and they are to be commended for that.”

But Moreton & Saughall Massie councillor Bruce Berry, who is on the authority's environment committee, said: "The council will have you believe that all is rosy in the garden - try telling that to the residents I represent who are constantly contacting me about dog-fouling.

"You only have to walk down a road or wander into a park to witness the scale of the problem, yet the council tell us it is being dealt with."