The dog mess which blights our parks, paths and grass verges in Castle Point is appalling and I hope the council follows Canvey’s lead and start tackling this problem.

I regularly watch a dog owner allowing his two dogs off the lead in the small children’s park along Woodside Avenue, Benfleet.

He leans against the railings while they run around off the lead and he makes no attempt to pick up their mess.

This park attracts a lot of children and the council has recently put in an undercover seating area for them, which is lovely, but it’s becoming a no-go area.

Until last summer there was a No Dogs sign, but it seems that while Castle Point is happy to install new equipment, replacing the sign which was vandalised is proving impossible.

Until we have proper deterrents and adequate enforcement of these penalties, the problem is just going to get worse and these irresponsible minorities will continue to give the majority of decent dog owners, and dogs, a bad name.

Jane Duffy
Oak Walk
Benfleet