A DARWEN mother is refusing to let her daughter join a school 'walking bus' because she says the pavements are covered in dog muck.

Janet Howard, 41, of Key View, said irresponsible dog owners were ruining the healthy initiative set up at Ashleigh Primary School before it has even begun.

And she urged dog owners to clean up after their pets so children can enjoy walking to school without having to negotiate piles of dirt.

The walking bus is due to be launched on April 13, but Mrs Howard said she would rather drive her six-year-old Bethany to school than risk her walking in dog muck.

Her concerns were raised after a recent pleasant walk was turned into an 'assault course' around piles of the dirt.

Mrs Howard said: "The walking bus is a great idea but I am quite concerned about the amount of dog dirt on the pavements from the Whitehall area up to her school, especially on the main road.

"We are having to look down on the pavements as we walk as neither my daughter nor I want this mess on our shoes or to trail it into school.

People who have dogs and allow them to mess our pavements are irresponsible and not thinking of others, especially when schools are trying to encourage parents to walk their children to school instead of using their cars.

"Although there are signs located around the borough I do not think people take any notice of them.

"There should be more done to combat this growing problem especially around school areas. We need more dog-waste bins and not just located in parks, and maybe more dog-waste wardens out and about."

Whitehall ward councillor Karimeh Foster said: "We are not all perfect and some people will never follow the line. We need to keep on at people to encourage them to remember to be responsible."

Council direct services chief Peter Hunt said: "The council cleans the highways in Whitehall on a regular basis and dog fouling has not been highlighted as a significant problem. Dog-fouling bins are not placed on the highways as we do not want to encourage dog-fouling in these areas.

"As part of the Thrash the Trash campaign, we have prosecuted a number of people for allowing their dogs to foul and not clearing it away."