The latest figures published on the Councils open data web site say that only 8 fixed penalty tickets have been issued for dog fouling since April 2015.

No penalty notices have been issued at all since June last year.

Similarly, no Community Protection Notices (see right) for dog fouling have been issued since 2015

The York Council receives around 2000 requests for action each year on cleansing issues which includes dog fouling. It no longer publishes the number of complaints it receives about full poop scoop bins but it used to be around 20 a month..

A contract was let in April for the replacement of ageing “poop scoop” bins in the City.

Several campaigns have been run to highlight the risks associated with dog fouling. These included, in some areas like Foxwood, displaying eye catching posters while in others local residents highlighted “poop” on footpaths with spray markers.

Whether the problem has got better, or worse over recent months is difficult to assess.

Issues can be traced back to 2012 when the, then Labour controlled, Council scrapped the “dog warden” service. At the same time, they reduced the number of litter and dog bins in the City.