PUPILS at a Great Yarmouth school have put pen to paper in a bid to get dog owners to pick up up after their pets.Dozens of children at Cobholm Primary School created posters encouraging dog owners 'scoop the poop' in a bid to curb the problem of dog fouling in the area.

PUPILS at a Great Yarmouth school have put pen to paper in a bid to get dog owners to pick up up after their pets.

Dozens of children at Cobholm Primary School created posters encouraging dog owners 'scoop the poop' in a bid to curb the problem of dog fouling in the area.

The issue has been a priority for officers from the Cobholm and Southtown Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) since March.

Police Community Support Officer Abigail Horton said dog mess was “very visible” to people in the area and “needed to be tackled”.

Since then the problem has been dramatically reduced particularly in hotspot areas of Granville Road, Breydon Road, Mill Road, Breydon Waters and Broadland Rugby pitch.

Another problem area has been outside Cobholm Primary School, and the SNT organised a poster competition called 'scoop the poop' for pupils.

Last Thursday PCSO Horton attended an assembly to present the artists of the top three posters with prizes.

Monica Figueiras won the competition and received a

kite and family ticket to

Regent Bowl. Second was Morgan Watts who won a teddy bear, and Kennedy Cooke came third, winning herself a football.

PCSO Horton explained that the dog fouling problem in Cobholm was “seasonal”, increasing in the winter with the darker nights. She added that the posters would be laminated and put up around Cobholm acting as a gentle reminder to dog owners.

The problem was identified in March at the SNT's KIN meeting (Key Individual Network), and officers have been working on it since.