Fed-up resident forced to make homemade poo bins to tackle dog fouling in Ochiltree

David Reid came up with the idea after the problem ‘got out of hand’ and decided to take action.

The 62-year-old created special bins from bright orange buckets and has handed out free poo bags out of recycled washing tablet tubs.

The project has been funded by the community themselves - but the grand total only came to £4.75.

Now he has other residents on board who take turns to empty the buckets and make sure the village stays tidy.

He said: “I was out a walk and I noticed people kept chucking poo bags into hedges and it just looked awful, like a badly decorated Christmas tree.

“I made up some homemade poo bins out of orange buckets and filled recycled dishwater tablet tubs with poo bags.

“People started using them and it helped keep the area tidy so then I put even more bins out around the village.

“I needed someone to help me empty them and luckily people started to volunteer so I didn’t have to do it all myself.

“My councillor Jim McMahon supplied us with 4,000 poo bags for us to hand out to the community to fit in the boxes.

“You still getthe odd person leaving a mess behind them but overall our solution has really been making a difference, and it’s all volunteers doing it.

“The council just don’t have the money or resources so we feel like it’s up to us as a community to fix the problem.

We really got it tidied up here compared to other areas in East Ayrshire.

“It’s the culture of living in a wee village, everyone wants to stay in a nice place so we don’t mind putting in the effort to make sure it’s looked after.”

R e s i d e n t J u l i e-Ann MacLeod said: “Ochiltree had to take on the work to combat the problem after it started to get out of hand.

“The programme has everyone working together and taking turns to empty the Community make homemade poo bins to tackle dog fouling bins and refill the bags.

“We have a new community hub coming soon and we want people to be able to come to Ochiltree to visit it without getting covered in dog poo.

“People need to get caught leaving it behind them. If you are going to have dogs you need to be responsible and clean up after them.

“One man in the area has even installed a camera to catch people, wanted CCTV for security but will be using the cameras to catch those who leave a mess.

“There isn’t very many council dog bins and the ones that we do have don’t get emptied often. I have seen them overflow sometimes which isn’t good for health and safety. We understand their hands are tied but something needs to be done, that’s how the project started.

“Our village is a nice place and we want to keep it that way. It’s great for nice country walks and we really want to put it on the map.

A spokesperson for the council said: “The Corporate Enforcement Unit visits Ochiltree up to three times a week undertaking a range of enforcement activities including unmarked vehicle patrols, plain-clothes patrols, marked CCTV activity and joint patrols with Police Scotland.

“Ochiltree has also been subject to stand-alone dog fouling detection work with Police Scotland colleagues that start in the early morning and continue thr oug hout t he d ay .

Evening patrols will take place today.

“The CEU has also been making enquiries in relation to dog fouling offences within the village. The CEU can re-supply bags, the group just need to give them a call or drop them an email when their supply runs out.”