DOGS could soon be banned from a popular park in Holgate, after pleas from parents and teachers about the mess they leave behind.

St Paul's Primary School uses Holgate Dock- a patch of land between St Paul's Church and St Paul's Mews - as a sports field, but the public land is also popular with dog walkers.

Debate has raged about how to deal with the irresponsible dog owners who leave dog mess behind. Now council bosses look set to impose a complete ban on dogs on the land, in a bid to eliminate the health and hygiene problems for the school's pupils.

A report due to go before Cllr David Carr, City of York Council's current executive member for safer neighbourhoods, recommends a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) to be brought in to ban dogs from the area, threatening owners with a £100 fine if they break the rule.

Council staff have recommended that alternatives - like banning dogs during term time only, or banning dog fouling - are ruled out as not stringent enough to tackle the problem.

The report adds: "Neighbourhood Enforcement Officers have also carried out patrols in the area, but have not been able to catch anybody fouling. The school do not have access to another field to use for PE and sports. They do carry out a visual inspection before the start of lessons, but they still report that there are incidents of pupils standing in dog faeces."

The paper also reveals the council is considering a dog DNA register - like one already being piloted in Dagenham and Barking - to make it easier to track down the culprits when dogs mess is left behind in public places.

Registering would be voluntary, but council staff are thinking about insisting tenants in council houses get their dogs' DNA listed, and statistics from Dagenham's trial show a 50 per cent reduction in dog fouling after it was introduced.

When the problems at Holgate Dock were raised with the council in February the area's councillor Fiona Derbyshire said she and other representatives had heard dozens of complaints.

She said: "There are a lot of dog walkers who use Holgate Dock, most do so with great respect and always clean up after their animals.

"Unfortunately there are a few who don't, and although we've tried enforcement action we have not been able to catch people."