THEY'RE kicking up a bit of stink in Atherton - over dog mess.

In fact the community's fed up with fouling and they're going to do something about it.

But it's not our four-legged friends that are in the dog-house, it's their owners and now plans are underway for a campaign to raise awareness about fouling on Atherton's streets and in the parks.

The Atherton Green Partnership and pupils at St Michael's CE Primary are working on a sign design to tell dog owners to use that scoop and clean up after their pets.

The best sign will be chosen by members of the partnership and the council's People and Places manager Nick Burdekin.

Nick says: "It's an offence to let your dog foul the streets and we will remind people of this with eye-catching designs that will be placed at key points around the community. It's all about asking people to change their behaviour a little and become a lot more responsible."

In order to monitor the success of the scheme, an initial survey of the area found dog-fouling present at 53 per cent of all sites. Central Park off Hamilton Street was by far the worst offender with no fewer than 22 samples found.

Atherton Green Partnership member and joint chair of the Township Forum, Cllr Sue Loudon said: "I am very pleased that Atherton is piloting a scheme that will try to combat a real borough-wide problem. We are concentrating our efforts on an area that includes a number of playing fields and areas where children play, to emphasise that dog mess is a danger. If this pilot scheme is a success, we want to see it working across the whole township and beyond."

Dog fouling may cause disease in humans. Small children are particularly vulnerable to the disease Toxocariasis, which can result in blindness. A parasitic worm causes the disease and infection occurs when the worms' larvae, found in dog faeces, is ingested.

More than 110 people living in the borough have been fined £50 for allowing their dogs to foul the streets. So the message to dog owners is - don't leave home without your poop scoop - or at least a spare plastic bag.