NORTH-East councils say they will continue issuing fines to people who refuse to clean up after their dog - despite many councils across England no-longer handing out any fixed-penalty notices.

A study by the BBC found that a third of councils polled in England and Wales did not issue a single fixed-penalty notice for fouling in 2014/15, while the overall number of fines given out fell last year by almost 20 per cent.

However, research by The Northern Echo found that councils in the North-East and North Yorkshire are continuing to target offenders.

In County Durham, council has received more than 5,000 complaints about dog fouling in the last two years.

In that time, the number of fixed penalty notices issues by the county council fell from 142 in 2013/14 to 67 in 2014/15.

Oliver Sherratt, head of direct services at the authority, admitted the council had been hit by the national austerity measures and had to make cuts.

But he said officers were determined to both encourage dog owners to be responsible and target those who persisted in being irresponsible with enforcement action.

As well as running a green dog walking scheme to encourage owners to pick up after their pets and going into schools to talk to children about responsible dog ownership, the council is urging anyone with information on people who allow their dogs to foul public places to get in touch.

In 2013/14, Stockton Borough Council received 568 complaints about dog fouling and handed out nine fines.

The following year it received 545 and issued five fines.

In Richmondshire, the council received 81 complaints in 2014/15 and issued five fines. The previous year it received 48 complaints and handed out one fine.

In Hambleton, where they have issued three fines over the last three years, the dog warden has begun using stencils to leave the message ‘no fouling’ in hot-spot areas.

The spray signs will be marked using a chalk-based temporary paint, which washes off in the rain.

“We want to show the residents of Hambleton that we are taking dog fouling seriously,” said Cllr Brian Phillips, portfolio holder for environmental and planning services.

The council is warning dog owners that anyone caught not clearing up after their pet faces an automatic fixed penalty fine of £50 which if not paid can lead to a £1,000 fine.

Darlington Borough Council said it had issued fines but the number handed out was not available on Wednesday.

Nationally, the overall number of fines fell to 2,868 in 2014/15 year from 3,521 in 2013/14, the BBC found.

103 authorities did not issue any fines.

One of those, Sheffield City Council, told the broadcaster it no longer had the resources to patrol parks.