Wardens will sniff out funny business
Workers will take to the streets in‘normal gear’
Renfrewshire’s wardens are becoming undercover detectives to stamp out dodgy dog owners, litter louts and noisy neighbours.
It has been revealed that the wardens’ quirky new approach to tackling anti-social behaviour is to carry out plainclothes patrols in high-risk areas.
The strategy emerged at a meeting of Paisley East and Whitehaugh Community Council.
Wardens - who were giving an update on problems in the area - informed the meeting of the latest tactic.
It’s not the first time the warden service has adopted unorthodox methods to catch manky dog walkers.
It emerged earlier this year that the council workers would spray dog mess with fluorescent paint in a bid to shame owners to pick it up.
Renfrewshire’s wardens are tasked with dealing with a number of problems within communities, including dog, fouling, litter, abandoned vehicles and noisy neighbours through high visibility patrols.
They often act as the first line of defence when it comes to anti-social behaviour and are viewed as the eyes and ears for the community to any potential problems.
Now the council workers are taking a more covert approach to catching dodgy dog owners and noisy neighbours, by taking to the streets in civilian gear.
A Renfrewshire Council spokesman said: “Through our Team Up to Clean Up campaign, we are aiming to make Renfrewshire a cleaner, more attractive place to live, work and visit.
“We recognise that dog fouling and littering is an issue in the area and are working hard to change the behaviour of those who fail to pick up after their dogs, fail to bin the collected waste or drop litter.
“As part of this, wardens have been working in plain clothes to try and catch offenders in the act as a fine has proved a stronger deterrent than the owner picking up only because a warden was present.
“We would encourage the majority of dog owners in Renfrewshire who do pick up to continue to lead by example, sign up to our Responsible Dog Ownership pledge and support the campaign to change the behaviour of irresponsible owners.”
Express readers who want to sign up should vist www. surveymonkey. com/ responsibledogowner