Askam Amateur Rugby League Club (ARLC) have asked dog walkers to respect their pitch as players are forced to ‘dodge dog poo’.

The club have received reports from members of the community, saying that dog walkers are allowing their pets to use both the training pitch and the main pitch as a toilet.

Dogs are also being let out unsupervised onto those areas.

Askam Sandrats are aware that people walk their dogs through the Clubs grounds and said this is ‘fine’, however allowing dogs to leave a mess is ‘completely unacceptable’.

Vice Chair and Secretary of the club, Liz Gaskell said there is signage up which is being ignored.

 “Dog mess contains toxins which could be harmful to people,” she said, “Getting dog mess onto skin and clothes is a horrible experience. People use these areas to train and play and should not have to dodge dog poo.”

Liz said Askam ARLC are a community club with a small team of volunteers who are working hard to maintain the club and grounds and raise standards.

But, to have dog mess where kids and adults train and play is ‘unacceptable and anti-social’. On top of this, the ground must be maintained to a high standard for playing and matches, which this issue is not helping.

The club is appealing directly to those allowing their dogs to use the pitches, and not cleaning up after them, to stop now.

Liz said: “There are responsible dog owners who pick up after their dogs and don't use the pitches and we thank them for respecting the Club and community. Please support your Club and its teams and supporters by putting a stop to this now.”