Swale Borough Council has no chance of fixing the "epidemic" of dog poo on the streets of Faversham, according to one disgruntled pensioner.

Roger Hill, 67, took this ironic photograph in Belvedere Road, days after the council announced a £100,000 scheme to catch people who do not clear up after their pets.

A pilot project was launched last March with £80 fines for irresponsible pet owners and anyone caught dropping litter.

The scheme was made permanent by cabinet members at a meeting on Thursday, when they agreed a £100,000 contract over the next three years to appoint a contractor to enforce the fines.

But Mr Hill, of Old Gate Road, believes it's a waste of money.

He said: "People often walk their dogs in the early morning before work and in the evening after work, when the enforcement staff have gone home.

"It is an epidemic in Faversham. It really is. People have two or three dogs and they don’t pick up after them.

"Sometimes it is all along the road, right through the town.

"It is an epidemic in Faversham. It really is. People have two or three dogs and they don’t pick up after them. Sometimes it is all along the road, right through the town" - Roger Hill

"The new scheme seems like a lot of money and I don't think they can stop these irresponsible people. Of course, not everyone is irresponsible."

He adds: "It can be such a mess. If you accidentally stand on it, if children are running around, it causes all sorts of problems.

"It only takes a minute to pick up after your dog. Something must be done to stop these people."

Mr Hill believes bringing back dog licensing could be a good way of tackling the problems, where there would be some control on how many pets people have.

Since the pilot began, the council says more than 1,300 fixed-penalty notices have been issued.

The enforcement scheme, and the cost of taking those who don’t pay to court, will be paid out of the fines.

Any surplus will be used for environmental initiatives, says the council.

Council spokesman Phil Sutcliffe said: "The scheme is a direct response to residents wanting us to improve the appearance of local streets, and will be entirely self-funding with no overall costs to the council.

"The officers are deployed at hot spot litter and dog fouling areas at key times including early mornings, evenings or weekends.

"For it to be a success, we need to target our resources as effectively as possible, so encourage local people to provide us with information on who is not cleaning up after their dogs.

"Enforcement is only one part of our approach, and other initiatives include rolling out the Tikspac scheme to provide bags for dog walkers, and the recent Bag it, Bin it, Win it campaign which rewarded dog owners who were seen to clean up after their pets.

"We'd also like to remind dog owners that bagged dog waste can be disposed of in any public litter bin, which is another way that we make it easy for people to do the right thing."