Corsham four-year-old wins Scoop the Poop poster competition

Corsham Primary School pupil Edward Waters was crowned winner above 212 other entries at an awards ceremony at the Springfield Community Campus on Monday night.

His design will be made into 200 posters which will be displayed around the town in shops, the library and town hall.

Campaigner and mum-of-two Kirsty Hall, 40, said: “There is a really bad dog poo problem in Corsham and as parents we are worried about the health risks.

“It is disgusting, on my short journey to school you can see seven mounds of dog poo. Children go through it on their scooters and it flicks up on their faces.

“Children of 18 months to five years are at most risk from toxocariasis, which is an infection that can be contracted from dog poo.

“This was a chance to give kids a voice and we have been just overwhelmed by the response. We had more than 200 kids send in posters and around 95 children and their families turn up on the day.”

The posters were judged by Corsham town councillor Steve Abbott, dog warden Sebastian Williams, and local artist Susie Brooks.

Although Edward was the overall winner, there were also competitions in eight different age groups with five winners selected in each group.

Mrs Hall added: “We were originally only going to have a top three in each group but we got a little bit soft and decided to allow five people to win.

“The key thing for us to get across is that we want people to phone in and tell the dog warden if they see someone who is not cleaning up their dog’s poo.

“If you get someone to report it that is 700 less poos on the streets each year. There is a My Wiltshire App where you can report it.

“It is also important to say that we are not anti-dog as many of our members are dog owners.”

For those who want to report irresponsible dog owners call the dog warden Mr Williams on 0300 456 0107.

n See full list of prizewinners and more pictures online at www.gazetteandherald.co.uk