A THREE-bag maximum is to be imposed on dog owners whose pets are caught short in the centre of Barnard Castle.
It follows concerns that some people are exploiting a town council scheme to provide free dog mess bags.
In the last financial year, the town council spent £179 on 10,000 bags which were offered free from the offices at Woodleigh, the mini golf kiosk and police station in Wilson Street.
However, town clerk Michael King told members of the services committee: “Anecdotally, there are people who come in just to ask for packs of dog bags.
“They are asking for up to 60 dog bags.”
He said the scheme was for people whose dogs had been “caught short” and for one reason or another they did
not have a dog mess bag to hand.
Mr King explained that the bags came in packs of 20.
Services chairman Cllr Roger Peat said: “Do we just hand them out willy nilly?”
Cllr Rima Chatterjee said bags should only be given in an emergency.
She said she would prefer to see more bins for dog mess around the town – especially on routes popular with dog walkers.
Cllr George Hallimond said he had come across unused dog bags thrown away.
Cllr Richard Child proposed that a maximum of three bags be provided free to people who call into the council office and this was agreed.
