PEOPLE in Abergavenny, fed up with the town's growing dog mess problem, have found a creative way to get the message across to offending dog owners.

Chloe Kennard snapped this shot (below) of the polite-but-firm message, written on the pavement in chalk, asking offenders: "Please do not let your dogs foul our pavement."

Ms Kennard said the offending owners' motives boiled down to "pure laziness".

She said St Helen's Road and Park Street were among the worst-affected areas.

"I don’t have pets but my mum has two dogs," she said. "I've looked after them, and I wouldn’t dare leave dog mess on the floor. It's selfish."

Ms Kennard shared the photograph on a popular Facebook group for Abergavenny residents, and received a lot of comments from other locals who were fed up with seeing dog mess in public places.

Louise Hodges, an illustrator who lives in Park Street, told the Argus she had reported the problem to Monmouthshire County Council's environmental health team.

"They logged my complaint and I am waiting to hear back from them," she said. "I was initially told they were aware of the problem, but without evidence of who was letting their dogs do it, there was little they could do.

"I was told they would probably come out and put some signs up saying people would be fined for letting their dogs foul and not picking it up."

Mrs Hodges said the problem had been around for a long time, but appeared to have got worse in recent months.

"It’s not just our road with the problem, but lots of places in Abergavenny. When walking you are constantly trying to dodge dog poo.

"There are a lot of people walking their dogs up and down this road – responsible dog owners will pick up after their dogs, but there are obviously some that just leave it.

"I don’t see why we should be having to clear up the mess and clean the pavements. It’s disgusting."