FIFE Council has said they are using out of uniform officers and varied working hours in their battle to combat dog fouling problems.

As reported in the Press last month, only one fixed penalty notice was issued in the Dunfermline area in the last six months despite a total of 62 complaints about dog fouling.

The figures led to Councillor Gavin Ellis calling for more to be done. He said while officers were doing what they could with education and campaigns, the public still expected fixed penalties to be issued to offenders.

The council confirmed this week that members of the Safer Communities Team do, on occasions, carry out patrols in plain clothes and they can be out at the crack of dawn as they try and eradicate the problem.

Brian Westwater, Safer Communities Lead Officer, said his teams are on duty both early mornings and early evenings which are the most popular times for dog walking.

"In persistent problem areas, it sometimes helps for officers to be out of their easily identifiable uniforms to catch offenders," he added.