A MORECAMBE woman whose dog was attacked by a stray was amazed to discover that there are no local dog wardens on duty at the weekend.

Karen Hayhurst of Bendjean Road contacted both the police and the council after the stray wondered up her drive and attacked her pet dog.

The stray mongrel would not leave her drive and she hoped the authorities would help.

But the police said it was the council's duty and a spokesman for the council said "sorry" but there was no dog warden on duty at the weekend.

"Luckily, my dog was unharmed but I was astounded that there was no one on duty to sort out this sort of problem. This mongrel looked old and poorly but it could have been much more vicious and what if a dog attacked children? Surely there must be something the authorities can do. "When I called the police they said if I brought the dog to the station then they could do something... how ridiculous!"

Mrs Hayhurst called the council's emergency number but eventually the stray wondered off onto someone else's drive.

She added: "The council said they were fed up with the police giving out their number as it was the police's duty. He said they had no wardens on duty and there was nothing they could do. I appreciate that dogs sometimes get out but what if it had been a vicious dog attacking children? What happens then?"

Chief Environment officer, Peter Robinson, said: "It is true that there are no dog wardens on duty at the weekends but there are plans to employ two more dog wardens by June which will enable us offer a dog warden service seven days a week. At the moment the police do have a duty to deal with this. We are aware that dog control and dog fouling is a very important issue for the public."