Dog poo chucker gets yellow card after Lancashire council admits it can't fine him

The dung chucker was captured on CCTV late at night as he returned home after walking his pooches at a local beauty spot.

The occupant of the house, in the peaceful village of Rufford, discovered the mess when she walked outside the following morning and almost stepped in it.

"It was disgusting - how could anyone do something as awful as that?" said the woman who asked not to be named.

"There are several cameras in the area and he was caught in the act, as clear as day, launching the bags at my house."

West Lancashire Council tried to fine the bag bomber with a fixed penalty notice, but found FPNs could only be issued for dog fouling in a public place.

They also looked at issuing a notice for littering, but that too could not be pursued because the poo landed on private property.

So the authority has now issued the man with a warning of a Community Protection Notice under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 advising him against repeating the offence.

The householder told the Post: "Looking at the CCTV it was about 9.45pm when he struck.

"The pictures showed a man walking up the street with two dogs carrying two bags. He looked to have come from the park (Mere Sands Wood) opposite. He crossed the road, walked down the path and then stopped.

"He was right under a camera and you could see his face clearly. He seemed to look up at the camera and then wound up his arm and launched the bags at my property. He then walked off.

"When I found the mess the following morning the bags had split open on impact and the stuff was everywhere.

"I vaguely recognised him because he walks his dogs every day. But some of the neighbours identified him and we passed on his details to the council.

"What puzzles me is why he took the time to clean up after his dogs on the park, but then thought it was OK to chuck it at my house."

A spokesman for West Lancs said: "The council investigated the report and considered the possibility of a prosecution for littering under section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

"However, the council could not pursue this further as (it) restricts the offence to litter deposited only on land which the public have access to. This means cases such as this would need to be pursued privately through the civil courts.

"However, as the act was clearly anti-social, we did issue this man with a warning for a community protection notice, so action under anti-social behaviour legislation has been taken. To date we have received no further complaints regarding the conduct of this man.

"We recognise this case is distressing for (the woman) and we have pursued the case as far as we can within the powers available to us.

"We hope the community protection notice will help deter any further behaviour of this kind in the future."