Piles of dog poo appear alongside Kennet and Avon Canal in Newbury after bins removed

Several mounds of dog poo bags have appeared along the Kennet and Avon Canal towpath after two dog waste bins were removed due to rising costs.

The two bins were located on the path between Victoria Park and B&Q on London Road.

Now, in their place, two smelly piles have appeared, created by lazy dog walkers.

The Canal and River Trust, which looks after these towpath bins, has stated that cuts in public funding has forced it to reduce some of its services, with dog poo bins being one of the affected conveniences.

Jonathan Gardner regularly walks along the canal towpath and he encountered the discarded piles of dog waste last Thursday.

He was critical of the Canal and River Trust’s decision to remove the bins.

He said: “It’s just so short-sighted. They spend all that money on repairing the locks and the footpath, but just a simple thing like a dog poo bin?

“People are just leaving them around, throwing them in hedges rather than taking them home. It’s predictable.”

Mr Gardner also said it was a shame that dog walkers couldn’t carry their pet’s poo for slightly longer so they could deposit it in an actual bin.

The Wales and South West director of the Canal and River Trust Mark Evans said: “We wrote to local authorities across our Wales and South West region earlier this year, advising of our intention to remove many bins from our towpaths.

“Servicing bins – which includes regular emptying, maintaining, cleaning and disposing of the waste – is a huge expense to the trust, with an annual cost of around £39,000 on the Kennet and Avon Canal alone.

“We have sought local funding options to adequately service the bins and hoped that local partners would step up to help.”

Mr Evans stated that there could be a reduction in essential government grant funding over 10 years from 2027, with these proposed cuts reducing in real terms by more than £300m – or 40 per cent – compared to recent levels.

He continued: “Our priority has to be maintaining the core fabric of the waterways, including the thousands of locks, bridges, aqueducts and other historic structures that make up the canal network, so that we can continue to provide free access to our towpaths for millions of people and maintain the integrity of the infrastructure to keep communities safe.

“The decision to remove our bins will save much-needed money that will help pay for a long list of vital repairs.”

The Canal and River Trust encourages dog walkers who use its towpaths to take their litter and dog waste back with them to be recycled where possible or disposed of responsibly.