THE streets of a West Devon parish could soon be coloured orange as councillors trial a new scheme to tackle an ongoing dog poo problem.

After a number of complaints about the amount of dog mess not being picked up in the parish of Buckland Monachorum — Milton Combe, Yelverton, Buckland Monachorum, Clearbrook and Crapstone — councillors agreed to spray painting dog mess on pavements in a bid to show how much fouling is not cleared up in certain villages and encourage more people to pick up after their dogs.

Parish chairman Rick Cheadle said the idea for the scheme came after receiving responses regarding dog mess from questionnaires sent out as part of the Neighbourhood Plan preparations.

He said: 'There wasn't a massive complaint about dog mess but it was a significant amount.

'We looked on the internet and one area — Berkshire — had tried the spray idea and had a 75 percent improvement, so we thought we'd try it.

'The mess is an absolute nuisance, particularly around the school.

'We just thought it was obviously a problem and we had to try something.'

Parish Clerk Debbie Ashton said: 'At the last council meeting, councillors decided to give it a go. So this week we brought some spray paint and distributed it among councillors and some parishioners who said they would help.

'It's a trial really to see what happens.

'We find it is great having dog poo bins but in Buckland Monachorum particularly, outside the school there is a bin and still mess on the pavements nearby.

'We'll just spray it and hopefully show people how bad the problem is.'

The spray paint is bright orange in colour and will be sprayed around offending mess. It is water soluble so will disappear after a period of time.

The trial will continue until the paint runs out. Councillors will then decide if there has been any improvement and will continue if they feel the scheme has had a positive effect.