A CAMPAIGN to help crack down on littering and dog fouling in a North Yorkshire town is being renewed.

Selby District Council launched its 12-month Don't Be A Waster - Reduce, Reuse, Respect campaign in 2017, to focus on some of the biggest problems in the area.

The campaign initially ran throughout last year, and focused on a different problem each month, also including waste in the home and flytipping, and the council said it had achieved some significant successes.

During the course of the pilot, the council saw a reduction in flytipping incidents at hot spot areas in and around the town, following the introduction of new mobile CCTV equipment and signage.

There was also a reduction in complaints about dog fouling in the district, 100 people attended free Dogs Trust roadshows promoting responsible dog ownership, more than 2,500 votes were cast in our competition to find a pet to represent the council's dog fouling campaign, and glow in the dark stickers encouraging dog owners to pick up after their pets were shared with 14 local parish councils.

Hundreds of residents attended special Love Food Hate Waste roadshows to find out how to do more with leftovers and avoid food waste, and senior council managers and staff took part in a Big Clean up – helping to pick up litter in Abbot’s Road.

Cllr Chris Pearson, Executive member and lead councillor with responsibility for housing, leisure, health and culture, said the reaction from locals had been impressive.

Cllr Pearson said: "We had a really good response from residents, local businesses and parish and town councils who supported the campaign.

"Now we’re taking the most successful elements and will look at how we can work to continue to tackle these issues over the long-term. We know these issues matter to our residents and we’re looking at different ways we can tackle them."

For the extension of the campaign, the council has won funding from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), to tackle the next issues.

These include littering of laybys in the Sherburn-in-Elmet area, and supporting parish councils to help them roll out the ‘Green Dog Walker’ scheme, which sees responsible dog owners tie a green ribbon to their dog’s lead and pledge to pick up after their pets, carry spare dog poo bags and report those who don’t pick up after their pets.

Other initiatives will include working with a local school for a creative writing competition, new anti-littering stencils and an accreditation scheme to help residents who appeal for a ‘tip run/man with a van’ on Facebook to reduce fly tipping.