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Referee calls time on foul footy pitch

Tom Rowley
26/ 1/2006

RAIN can stop play in certain sports, but dog dirt?

So much dog excrement littered West Drive playing fields in Tintwistle that the referee called foul and stopped play in the first half of Tintwistle Villa's under-15s football match with Mossley.

The two-minute interruption allowed the offending muck to be removed.

The players had already got to work removing dirt before kick-off and then the referee ordered another clean-up before the Tameside and District Junior Football League game could recommence on Saturday morning.

Jill Crossland, Villa's child welfare officer and a Tintwistle parish councillor, said: "It is disgusting. I was on with a shovel removing it too. Then half-way through the ref stopped it, so another big dollop could be removed.

"It was very embarrassing, with 35-40 spectators watching all this going on. This is the first time a game has been stopped because of dog fouling and hopefully it will be the last. But the club agreed with the referee that it was correct to get the dog fouling removed."

She added: "Even Eileen, our tea lady, trod in it and had to clean the floor of her cabin.

"It's a long-standing problem and difficult to resolve. The only way is for the residents of West Drive to be vigilant and report anyone letting dogs foul the pitches to either the club or High Peak Council. Dog excrement is a serious public hazard to children and can cause blindness."

High Peak Council has an environmental hotline on 0845 1294868.

Councillor Glynis Kirk, High Peak Council's executive member for the environment, said: "We take dog fouling incidents very seriously. Members of the public can contact the council in confidence with any specific evidence of offenders or with information."

Residents can ring the council environmental hotline on 0845 1294868 to report dog fouling.