A FORMER mayor has called for DNA testing of dog poo to crack down on the growing problem of owners who refuse to pick up after their pet.

But the council has pooh-poohed her idea, saying the concept has yet to be successfully trialled.

Councillor Denise Cobb, mayor of Brighton and Hove in 2013, spoke after a survey showed eight out of ten people thought the problem of dog mess was getting worse.

A survey to be presented to this afternoon’s meeting of the city’ environment committee shows 83 per cent of respondents think dog fouling in Poets Corner, in Hove, is worse than it was a year ago.

Three quarters want dog wardens on hand to issue fines to offending owners.

But for Councillor Cobb, who represents the Westbourne ward which incorporates Poet’s Corner, that does not go far enough.

She said: “What I’d like the council to do is DNA dog poo testing so people could be caught.

“That would be my preference, but it would be a lot of cost to the council.

“Your dog gets DNAd, and when they find the poo, they can relate it back to the dog and to the owner.

She added that the small residential streets of Poet’s Corner had “always been a problem area” for dog fouling, especially in winter time, when dog walkers may be less inclined to walk the 500 yards to Stoneham Park.

Her idea is not as far-fetched as it seems.

The London borough of Barking and Dagenham started a trial scheme two years ago.

Samples of dog mess are collected by council officers and park rangers.

DNA is then compared with a database of registered owners.

Registering dogs is voluntary for owners but microchipping is now required by law.

The borough council said it was assessing the scale of the dog mess problem during the trial and trying to establish whether people who chose not to register their pets were responsible for the majority of it.

Ivan Lyons, who will be running for the other council seat in the ward next year, told The Argus: “What really brought it up is someone’s two-year-old fell over and landed right in a pile of dog poo.

“We have to do something about this.

“It would be great to have dog wardens, or DNA testing, or at least more signs and street cleaners.”

His survey of more than 80 respondents found residents wanted decisive action.

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said yesterday: “We have not so far been made aware of any instances where a DNA testing scheme has worked effectively on a city-wide basis in the UK.

“We’re aware of the Barking and Dagenham trial, and like many councils up and down the country we will be very interested in its outcome.”

FACTFILE

More than 150 survey responses were collected by campaigners, across two petitions.

Mr Lyons’ Survey Monkey petition had 82 respondents.

Asked if they had noticed dog fouling getting worse at Poet’s Corner, 83 per cent said yes.

Given multiple options for actions to be taken, 78 per cent wanted dog wardens issuing fines, 61 per cent wanted more dog bins, 47 per cent wanted more street cleaners, 32 per cent wanted glow-in-the-dark signage and 22 per cent wanted dog poo bags tied to lamp posts.

However only 35 per cent said they would be willing to pay more council tax in order to fund such services, with 47 saying they would not.