Children and parents in Silsden are taking a stand against inconsiderate dog owners by launching an anti-dog mess campaign.

Sick of dog owners who let their pets foul on roads near the town’s primary schools, they have adorned the area with posters designed by children, with the aim of shaming people into cleaning up.

The situation is so bad at times that children take turns being “watchers,” walking in front of friends to make sure they don’t step in anything unpleasant.

The campaign has been organised by a group of mums and childminders and, ahead of last week’s poster Friday, children used their artistic talents to create some placards.

Before school, they erected the posters around notorious dog dirt black spots and offered dog food vouchers, donated by pet store Dogsbody and Friends, to those seen clearing up after their pets.

Childminder Helen King, 62, said: “It has got very bad in Silsden.

“We can’t think of any other way of solving the problem – we’ll see if we can shame them.”

Mrs King feels the problem is exacerbated when it happens so close to schools, in this case Hothfield and Aire View Schools.

She said: “They are treading it into schools, and then it isn’t healthy when they might be getting down on their hands and knees to play. Parents are sick of scraping it off their children’s shoes.

“Children take turns being watchers who shout to the rest of the children to watch out. Hopefully the posters will let people know we are not going to put up with this anymore.”

Council area co-ordinator Noreen Akhtar said: “We have increased enforcement patrols. We are doing everything we can, but we welcome the community doing something for themselves.

“People will know the dog owners allowing this to happen and we hope they tell them to stop.

“We need information from the community about who is doing this. The only alternative is to have wardens out watching the streets 24 hours a day.

“People need to realise having a dog isn’t just about it in the house looking pretty, you have to take it out and clean up after it too.”