Villagers officially signed up to a national dog poo patrol project in the same weekend as a break away group launched #doodoowatch which has gone viral across social media.

Cambs Times: Launch of the Green Dog walker at Wimglington fun dog show 2018Launch of the Green Dog walker at Wimglington fun dog show 2018 (Image: Archant)

Wimblington parish councillors were at a fun dog show event to launch the village’s “Green Dog Walking Scheme”, a nationally recognised scheme which is being used countrywide to combat dog fouling.

At the same time, businesswoman Amanda Carlin, dreamt up the idea of an interactive doodoo map where people can log poops and upload photos of any unwanted deposits.

Councillor Joanne Rose, said the parish council national scheme: “Involves 32 dog owners who have so far signed up, which is fabulous, and a few more have emailed today to sign up.

“The emphasis on the scheme is about responsible owners showing they are responsible for cleaning up their dog mess and by displaying the green ribbon, they’re showing other owners that they carry spare bags and are happy to supply one if they’re “caught short”.

“Green ribbon wearers also act as a good example to other owners walking who may be less responsible.

“This is not a register as such, nobody has to give personal details if they do’t want to (though all were happy to) - we just took details of where the owners walk their dogs so that we can see a pattern of where the green ribbon wearers are walking.

“Councillor Pete Murphy kindly spoke prior to the launch and advised everybody about Fenland District Council’s enforcement tariff, so we’re hopeful that this might support the initiative too.”

The rival poo slamming scheme is a map of shame which allows people to mark disaster dumping zones.

The reports are then passed on to the local council, or, in some cases, cleaned up by the village’s poo patrol.

Former parish councillor Mrs Carlin said she hoped people would be “shamed” into bagging their pets’ poo.

She plans to monitor the scheme to see if the public posts result in fewer cases in the village.

Fenland District Council has recently stepped up its patrols and anyone caught failing to clean up after their dog could be given a £75 on the spot fine.