Biddulph Town Councillors spoke against "disgusting" dog fouling in the town this week as members shared ideas on how to tackle the problem.

Members of the council's Recreation and Amenities Committee met on Tuesday to consider how the issue of dog fouling could be better managed in the town.

The town council's chief officer, Sarah Haydon, said: "The town council doesn't have any enforcement responsibilities when it comes to dog fouling, that responsibility is with the district council, but we do get a lot of calls from residents who are disgusted by dog fouling in the town."

Councillors acknowledged that most dog owners in the town acted responsibly when it came to picking up after their pets, but added that certain areas had become "rife" with dog mess.

Beginning the discussion on what could be done, Cllr Wayne Rogers said: "You could have a word with someone if you see them doing it, or report them anonymously. I do see people doing it sometimes, but a lot of people are very conscientious."

Biddulph's mayor Cllr John Jones pointed out the difficulty of enforcing picking up after dogs, saying: "I'm not sure I agree with the idea of intervening because you could end up in a row or worse. It's a very difficult issue as it's almost impossible to police.

"Most dog owners are responsible, and in some areas like Biddulph Grange Country Park incidents are very low, but other areas like Greenway Bank are rife with it. It's disgraceful - it's not just the mess and the smell, there's a risk of disease and it can cause blindness in kids."

And Cllr Jill Salt explained the resources available at district council level to combat dog fouling.

She said: "The district council say they have just one team member dedicated to the whole Moorlands to go out and catch offenders.

"I'd request that the officers write to the district council saying we have problems in specific areas, so they will hopefully deploy them in Biddulph for a few days. I think this is happening under cover of darkness when there are no people around and they can get away with it."

Cllr Nigel Yates acknowledged the importance of publicity, and suggested "creating some memes to spread the message".

He added: "We need to run a publicity campaign about this, like creating some memes to spread the message and raise the profile of it. Everybody knows they should pick up dog poo, so it's all about enforcement, publicity and peer pressure."

Cllr Kevin Jackson theorised that a dog's mess could be traced back to its owner through the dog's DNA, saying: "Any councillor who can cure the dog poo problem will be up for a Nobel prize of some sort because it's so difficult, but I do think that if the chances of getting caught were higher it would change people's attitude. If every dog's DNA was taken, then people would know that their dog's mess could be traced back to them."

While Cllr David Hawley agreed that education and publicity were important tools, saying: "We need to make it easier for people by adding more dog bins and also add more education and publicity.

"The DNA idea is a good idea but that would need to come at a national level. We would also need a budget for this, which would need to come from the district council."

It was agreed that the council's officers would contact Staffordshire Moorlands District Council to ask for their views on how to proceed and if they could offer any help to the town council, before bringing the issue back to a future meeting once more information was available.