A DOG owner who twice fell foul of the law by failing to pick up her pet’s mess has been left hundreds of pounds worse off after failing to pay fixed penalties.

Stacie Mason has been ordered to pay £600 having been one of three people prosecuted by Durham County Council.

Anyone allowing a dog to foul without picking it up can be issued with a fixed penalty notice for £100, reduced to £60 if paid within ten working days.

If not paid the person can be taken to court where they can receive a maximum £1,000 fine.

Mason, 27, of Pennine Avenue, Chester-le-Street, and two other defendants failed to appear before Newton Aycliffe magistrates on Wednesday, with the court opting to deal with all three in their absence.

Magistrates heard council neighbourhood wardens saw Mason’s dog, unaccompanied, foul on public land at Chester-le-Street, on both July 30 and August 6 last year, before making its way to her home.

Mason was issued with fixed penalty notices for each but did not pay so was taken to court.

Magistrates fined her £220 for each offence, and ordered her to pay £130 costs and a victim surcharge of £30.

Ian Hoult, the council’s neighbourhood protection manager, said: “We live in a beautiful part of the world and dog dirt left lying around can only detract from everyone’s enjoyment of it.

“There is no excuse for people not picking up after their pets and as well as being unsightly, dog mess is also a potential health hazard and a drain on our resources.”

The court also heard how a warden saw two dogs not on leads on a grass verge at Grants Houses on August 26 last year, with one of them fouling.

Anthony Oliver, 24, of Edendale Terrace, Horden, told the warden the dogs were his and was issued with a fixed penalty notice for failing to pick up the mess.

Oliver failed to pay it and was taken to court where he was fined £220, ordered to pay £130 costs and a victim surcharge of £30.

Magistrates also heard how Brian Yare, 56, of Argyle Square, Sunderland, was seen by a warden failing to pick up after his dog, at the side of a filling station at Murton on 31 July last year.

Yare was issued with a fixed penalty notice but did not pay so was taken to court. He was fined £220, ordered to pay £130 costs and a victim surcharge of £30.

Mr Hoult said: “We hope the financial penalties imposed will act as a deterrent to people who might be tempted not to pick after their dog, and also show that it really is worth paying them.”