Maryport Councillor fury at dog poo left on Queen's tributes

Maryport town councillor and St Mary's Church lay reader Linda Radcliffe said she was horrified.

"I am so incensed. I am not going to let it lie!"

Mrs Radcliffe said she was at St Mary's Church on Saturday morning looking after the Book of Condolence that had been opened up to allow the public to write messages which will end up in the National Archives.

"There were around 15 floral tributes laid quite close to the path up to the church," she said. 

"I decided to move a couple of them because they were in danger of being run over by cars coming up to the church.

"It was then that I saw this huge pile of dog dirt. It really was big and could not have been closer to the first flowers.

"The owner had made no attempt to clean it up. He or she must have known what the flowers were for.

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"It was obviously one of those owners keen to get their dog out to do its business and then get home to do whatever they wanted to do!

"A fellow reader, Geoff Moore, went and cleaned it up for me."

Cllr Linda Radcliffe (Image: Newsquest)

She said dog fouling in the churchyard is not a new thing but this incident is the last straw.

"I am going to fight to ban dogs from the churchyard, as these sorry excuses for human beings allowing their dogs to defecate don't realise that there are people buried under there.

"These people have no respect - no sensitivity."

On a more positive note, she said a 'good number' of people had queued outside the church to sign the Book of Condolence.

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