It was one of Margaret Thatcher’s infamous quotes and it was perhaps misrepresented but there is such a thing as society and it’s something we all have to work hard to preserve it. Not so the owner of the dog which left the mess in the picture.

The photograph was taken at about 7am last Friday (22 May 09) in that part of Home Close which runs perpendicular to it and connects Saffron Road to the footpath at the back of Somerset Road.

It really is not good enough. The owner of the offending dog didn’t even try to move the mess off the footpath. And the irony is that there is a dog bin within 20m of the incident!

County Councillor David Jenkins said: ‘This is just simply anti-social behaviour and it would not be unreasonable to give the dog’s owner an ASBO. 99% of dog owners are responsible and clean up after their dogs. This one gives them a bad name. Leaving this mess is unhygienic, it’s dirty and it presents a nasty opportunity for small children to ‘pick up’ infection’.