A RETIRED civil servant, who voluntarily tidies up church land, has hit out at pet owners who use the area as a ‘dogs’ lavatory’.

A RETIRED civil servant, who voluntarily tidies up church land, has hit out at pet owners who use the area as a ‘dogs’ lavatory’.

Several times a year, Etta Steele, 80, of Beacon Place, Exmouth, and another volunteer, Mr Appleby, tidy a path and compost heap behind the Holy Trinity Church .

She clears the overgrown area and has even paid a professional gardener out of her pension.

But one week, she counted 36 bags of dog waste dumped on the compost heap.

She said: “Dog owners should be ashamed of themselves.

“These gardens are private, but there is a right of way.

“It is not a dog’s lavatory.

“I live near the church and have tried, since 2007, to keep the path and side garden tidy.

“We are both 80 and do not get paid.

“I don’t want to see cameras installed and hope the alternative is not a slum or a no-go area.”

l What do readers think? Email phil.griffin@archant.co.uk