Reported dog fouling incidents double in Linlithgow

Andy Johnston, the council’s Countryside manager gave a quarterly update on the not-so-clean streets of the burgh between October and December last year.

The cleaner streets figures showed a surge in dog fouling enquiries as well as an increase in general litter complaints.

He told a recent meeting of the town’s local area committee: “Dog fouling enquiries doubled over the same period in 2020.

“I’m not quite sure why that is. There’s generally an increase in enquiries during the winter period. The dark hours, people are less inclined to pick up.”

The council has since stepped up patrols.

Mr Johnston said: “The enforcement officers are doing more ad hoc patrols in the hotspots to see if we can catch the culprits and issue fines.”

There were 10 reports of dog fouling in the three months to 31 December last year compared to just four for the same period in 2020. Also on the rise were litter reports and the number of abandoned vehicles – which increased from two to four.

While fly-tipping is still a major issue in the ward, and across the county, the number of reports in the Linlithgow area fell dramatically – to 15 in the last quarter, compared to 46 in the same period in 2020.

Clear-up costs for the ward fell similarly, from £3,894 in the 2020 third quarter to a little over £1,000 in the last three months of 2021. The council is planning a renewed campaign against fly-tipping, as part of a national scheme.