FLY-TIPPERS and rogue pet owners have fallen foul of a major crackdown designed to clean up the streets of Burnley.

Fifteen successful prosecutions have been mounted in the past fortnight, focusing on people who allow their back yards to become dumping grounds, let their dogs foul public land or drop litter.

Council bosses in Burnley have a reputation to keep up – it has been ranked fourth best in the country for tackling litterbugs.

Fines totalling £6,225 have been handed out by magistrates, alongside compensation and cost orders topping £1,400, with offenders ranging from landlords to householders.

In one case, Stoneyholme-based housing firm Usmaniyah Corporation was fined £1,000, with £1,272, after racking up a fifth conviction for allowing dirty back yards at their properties.

Burnley householders Kirsty Lloyd, 21, of Bar Street, and Susan McGrath, 51, of Albert Street, Bank Hall, were each fined £525 with £210 costs for similar offences.

Coun Neil Mottershead, the council’s community safety executive member, said: “We know people want us to tackle littering, fly-tipping and dog fouling, because they spoil our neighbourhoods, and that’s exactly what the council is doing.

“We’ve made creating a cleaner, greener and safer borough our priority and the fact that, week after week, we’re at court, prosecuting those that dump their rubbish or don’t clean up after their dog shows we’re taking that commitment very seriously.”

Elsewhere Robert Macintosh, 19, of St Matthew Street, was fined £100 with £75 costs for allowing his dog to foul nearby Scott Park.

And David Kelly, 35, of Parkinson Street, was given the same penalty for littering in Branch Road.