Community leaders have been called on to tackle the growing menace of dog fouling in a Suffolk town.

Kesgrave Town Council heard repeated complaints about the problem at its latest public meeting on Monday evening.

Town resident Deborah Dean said the issue had been widely discussed on community websites and was “really quite bad”.

“It’s not just Millennium Fields, it’s on the pavements, on children’s play areas and it’s generally not acceptable,” she added.

Ms Dean, who is a Suffolk Coastal district councillor, representing the neighbouring Rushmere ward, asked councillors if there was anything that could be done about the problem.

She suggested using money from a community enabling budget to fund CCTV cameras, which could be used as a “deterrent” to stop people allowing their dog to foul the streets.

A man speaking in the public session said he believed part of the problem was that dogs were being left to roam the streets.

He had complained before about a black Labrador that had “made a mess” near to a pedestrian crossing and said the same dog had been seen fouling “right outside our house”.

“It appears a black Labrador had been let out around the streets and then goes home.

“Then there’s also that big fat brown dog. There are two dogs running around the streets.”

Debbie McCallum, one of Kesgrave’s district councillors, also highlighted the issue of dog fouling.

“It keeps coming up, or coming out, whichever way you look at it,” she said. “Whenever I walk my dog I always wonder why people cannot take a bag with them.”

Councillors suggested the problem should be raised with the local dog warden and people in the town should be reminded to tidy up after their dog.