AN INVERKEITHING and Dalgety Bay councillor has expressed concerns at the amount of dog waste on the coastal path in her patch.

SNP councillor, Alice McGarry, said she discovered the problem during a walk with Fife Coast and Countryside Trust officers who were trying to look at ways to upgrade the path.

However, they had to stop “every few steps” to avoid the “disgusting” mess on the stretch leading from Abbot Place up into Inverkeithing High Street.

She told the Press, “It’s disgusting – it was pretty bad every few steps!

“There’s been no enforcement going on for a while so someone needs to start helping, especially because there’s so many tourists use that coastal path.” Ms McGarry said she had reported the issue to the council in the hope there would be some patrols in the area as current action to tackle the issue was “not good enough”.

She added, “There’s so much of it! It’s ridiculous – it’s a well-used path with children and prams and people on bikes – it’s not unreasonable to expect people to pick it up.

“I hope they will target the area to warn the offenders – it’s not even an education exercise – it’s just about enforcement.” A spokesperson for Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, said, “The Fife Coastal Path is the most popular coastal path in Scotland and free for everyone, including dog walkers, to visit and enjoy.

“In order to keep the path as accessible and clean as possible, there are dedicated dog bins and general waste bins along the path that can be used for the correct and hygienic disposal of dog waste.

“Unfortunately, not all dog owners use these bins, and, therefore, we receive more complaints about dog fouling than about any other aspect of the path – we would urge all dog walkers to use the bins provided.

“We would also encourage the public to help our staff know if there are any areas of the path where dog fouling has occurred so that we can send that information back to Fife Council.”