"WE'RE winning the war," says Steve Place, the councillor who might be called Craven's dog poo tsar.

He is the council's portfolio holder for protecting and enhancing the environment and his remit includes keeping Craven's streets free from dog fouling.

A somewhat unglamorous task perhaps, but he believes campaigns to prevent streets and playing fields being covered in dog faeces are having an effect.

"There will always be a hard core of irresponsible twits who go out, usually in the dark, and let their dogs foul and it is these we have to target," said Coun Place.

He welcomed figures which showed Craven earned top marks for collecting fines issued for dog fouling and said the council was responding to public pressure.

"It was started by the previous Conservative regime on Craven and continued by the current one. It's not a political issue, it's something we agree on," he said.

But it is not cheap. Each fixed penalty fine costs £300 to administer and brings back just £50 - but there is a consensus that it is well worth it. The company which is contracted to provide a dog warden service for Craven's streets has had its target of fixed penalty notices to issue increased from 25 last year to 30 this.

But it is a double-edged sword. The more successful the council is in getting dog owners to clean up, the harder it is to catch people and fine them.

But Coun Place is confident that the new target will be hit and served notice that particular areas of concern - such as Settle and parts of south Craven - will come under particular attention from the council's dog warden service.

Those who feel that the cover of darkness affords some protection from a fine may be in for a nasty shock as they will be operating outside "office hours".

Fines are only one weapon being used by the council - education is another.

"We do a lot of work in schools and they are very receptive to messages about the environment, they are very concerned about the planet," said Coun Place.

In addition bags for owners to use to pick up their dogs' faeces are widely available in shops across the district. There are also 190 bins to collect the full bags - but it is not quite as simple as some believe.

"We do get people saying there should be more of these 'dog poo bins'," explained Coun Place. "But we can no longer attach them to lamp posts and electricity posts for health and safety reasons. They have to be on a metal post in the ground which requires planning permission."

Coun Place believes that in future parish councils will take on more responsibility for their own patch.

The parishes will have increased powers and he believes those which are investigating the possibility of reintroducing the old "lengthsmen" responsible for tidying up the village should also consider giving them powers to keep an eye on dog owners.

While Craven does earn a gold star from the minister for its record on issuing and collecting fines for dog fouling, it failed to issue any for litter dropping.

Coun Place said that while he would not say litter was not a problem, it was not a serious problem and the cost of dedicated enforcement teams was probably not worth it.

In May last year Pendle Council caused a storm of protest from parents when it sent a team of around 20 officers to the vicinity of West Craven High Technology College where it issued several £50 fines to teenagers who had dropped litter.