Dealing with the problem of dog dirts on our streets is a common complaint, and now a man has been hit with a £200 fine for not picking up after his dog in Seamill.

NAC's environment enforcement team are working with local residents fed up with their neighbourhood been blighted by the problem.

Team Leader Jim Heaney said: "The conviction followed weeks of surveillance from our team. The area was Sandy Road in Seamill - but this is not an exception."

Currently six cases are pending with the Procurator Fiscal and they too could be prosecuted.

Jim continued: “The case in Seamill was a really important one as we had received many complaints from local residents. They had become sick to death of the mess and the attitude the man had towards it. We monitored the area for a month and it became clear that the mess was from his dog.

“Ideally we don’t want to take anyone to court. That is always a last-case scenario. But he simply wouldn’t comply and wouldn’t even provide his name and address, which is also an offence.

“We had a strong case against him and he was ultimately fined £100 for failing to clean up after his dog and another £100 for failing to identify himself.

“As well as those fines, we invoiced him for the cost of officers time cleaning his dog’s mess. Overall it’s been a costly exercise for him.”

"The area has now been mess free for a number of weeks and that’s been the most satisfying part of the whole case."

And Jim and the team hope that this sends out a message to others. He added: “We are really determined to eradicate this problem as much as we can. If you do see anyone failing to clear up after their mess or littering in general, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.”

All complaints can be made at EnvironmentalEnforcementTeam@north-ayrshire. gov.uk and will be taken seriously.