A new company could take over fining people littering and irresponsible dog owners leaving waste around the county but no one is enforcing the matter currently.

Pembrokeshire County Council is going out to tender for a contract to oversee environmental matters including littering, fly tipping, dog fouling and bylaws around beaches, the cabinet member for the environment Cllr Cris Tomos said.

He was responding to a question tabled by Cllr Aaron Carey at Thursday’s (March 4) full council meeting.

Cllr Carey asked: “Many residents have been out walking much more than usual due to the lockdown/s. Feedback I have had include phrases such as ‘the streets are disgusting!’ ‘where are the people supposed to be giving out fines?’ and ‘how come I always see traffic wardens handing out fines but nobody policing dog fouling?’

“Could Councillor Tomos please explain the lack of visibility of enforcement officers and hence apparent lack of action to combat littering and fouling?”

Cllr Tomos said lockdown had resulted in more people out walking and “we are seeing dog mess on the pavements where irresponsible dog owners have failed to clean up after their pets.”

He added that it was a difficult offence to police and someone has to be caught in the act and when officers, such as those employed by District Enforcement, are visible people pick it up.

District Enforcement were employed by the council to issue fixed penalty notices to those littering but during lockdown their work was stopped, council heard, with many staff still on furlough currently.

Cllr Tomos said a request had been made for the company to just enforce dog fouling for a period of time but this had not been possible.

“District Enforcement is out of contract and the authority is in the process of going out to tender for the contract and provision of environmental matters,”  said Cllr Tomos, and it should be in place before the start of the tourist season.