‘UNHYGENIC and unacceptable’.

A SCOUT leader has hit out at irresponsible dog owners after picking up 100 bags of dog poo from a children’s play area in Flixton on Sunday.

Kate Scott, a group scout leader for 8th Flixton Scout Group, decided to clean up the grounds of the Scout Hut, in Woodsend Crescent Road, to get rid of the mounting litter dumped by passers-by.

The leaders take it upon themselves to clean the site about twice a year but Kate said she was particularly alarmed by what she found on the latest litter-pick.

Alongside the discarded bottles, cans and crisp packets that she picked up on March 13 were 100 dog poo bags. The bags were scattered around the area where the children play, as well as hung from the bushes and trees.

“We often get the scouts and explorers to litter-pick, however, due to hygiene issues we can’t ask them to do this,” said Kate.

“This is unacceptable. Dog owners are throwing the bags into a place where children play. As leaders, we give up our time to run the group and it makes it harder having to clean up other people’s mess to allow our children to play.”

Kate said she thinks the problem is down to inconsiderate dog owners and lack of dog poo bins in the area. The scout group contacted Trafford Council last year asking for action to be taken but said that the problem is only escalating.

The group has reported the latest incident to the council and has also put posters up around the site’s perimeters asking for people to refrain from littering.

A spokesperson for Trafford Council said: "Trafford’s Environmental Improvement Team have been made aware of the incident and take the complaint very seriously. We will be assessing the area around the scout HQ and carrying out education and enforcement action in the coming weeks. In the meantime we continue to urge all dog owners to be responsible using either public litter bins or their grey domestic bin to dispose of bagged dog faeces."