Skipton and Craven Green Party stage Love Your Canal day (From Craven Herald)

Skipton and Craven Green Party stage Love Your Canal day

8:00am Friday 22nd February 2013 in News

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, members of Skipton and Craven Green Party held a Love Your Canal day.

They spoke with people using the canal and towpath and gave out cards thanking users for looking after the canal and towpath.

And 120 poop scoop bags were used to scrape up 200 piles of dirt which dog owners had not removed.

Spokesman Claire Nash said: “I have been campaigning about the state of the canal towpath for two months. A petition about repairs and lighting is nearly ready to submit and I have had a positive meeting already with the Canal and River Trust about repairs.

“But practical action was needed about dog dirt, so I and another member cleaned the towpath verges between the town centre and Gawflatt Bridge.

“About 800 people used this stretch of towpath on Valentine's Day and nearly 100 of these had a dog with them. Most do pick up, but a minority are too lazy.

“More than half of towpath users are children and we saw many of them go onto the verge, which was more poop than grass in many places. We are now investigating how more pressure can be put on those dog owners who do not pick up after their pets.”