PEOPLE who let their dogs foul a Giggleswick field could cost the local residents thousands of pounds.

Giggleswick Parish Council can no longer rent out a playing field, despite paying for it to be mown 15 times a year, because it is so full of dog muck.

And now fed-up councillors feel the only way to solve the problem is to fence off the Lower Fellings to physically stop the animals from going on the pitch, which is likely to cost in the region of £3,000.

This way they hope they can then start renting out the land for sport once more.

The field was used by North Ribblesdale Rugby Club until two years ago and since then it has been unused, except for the annual bonfire. Parish clerk Freda Hargreaves told the Herald that the council reckons it has lost so far around £500 in income as a direct result of the dog problem.

"We are paying money to have the grass cut yet we can't rent it out because it isn't fit.

"People don't keep their dogs on leads. There are notices down there. People bring dogs there from all over. They come in their cars, let the dogs off and watch them run around then take them away again. They just don't think," said Mrs Hargreaves.

"We have tried everything. As far as we can see, the only thing we can do is fence it off, which is going to cost us thousands of pounds," she added.

And an additional expense would be to vary the route of the official footpath through the field so that the fencing could keep dogs off the pitch area itself.

The fencing would be three sided, so people could still walk round the field on all sides except the wallside next to Bankwell Road.

"If it was free from dog dirt, I think the field would be well used. It's a very good field and it's just such a shame that we can't do anything with it."

In the past the parish council earned extra cash from the Lower Fellings by selling the grass crop in the summer. But again the amount of dog dirt has scuppered that revenue earner.

The Lower Fellings was given to the parish in around 1946 by Dr William Harrison along with other fields which together make the Harrison Playing Fields. The benefactor meant the land to be used as playing fields.

Mrs Hargreaves added: "It is ironic that we can't use the field for what it was intended."

The matter is to be raised at the annual parish meeting on Tuesday, which will be held in the parish room at 7.30pm, when the council hopes to hear parishioners' views.

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