Welcome to Greater Manchester's dog muck capital

News that Wigan has the highest number of dog poo incidents has caused a stink amongst regular walkers. Many frequent users of Pennington Flash believe that lack of bins and lockdown were to blame for the area being given the top spot in the north west for incidents.

There were a total of 534 incidents in the borough last year, with Salford coming second with 417 reports. Tameside (365), Rochdale (243) and Oldham (216) came in third, fifth and sixth respectively across the north west, according to Freedom of Information data collected from 101 councils by Pet Plan.

There has been no fines issued by Wigan, Tameside, or Rochdale councils in 2021 to perpetrators - Oldham handed out three fines.

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The Manchester Evening News was told by a number of dog walkers that they believe these incidents came as a result of the popularity of the area during lockdown - as Wigan is home to a number of popular nature reserves like Pennington Flash or the Three Sisters.

“I didn’t think it was too bad today,” one walker with his two children said. “But I think maybe it was due to the lockdown when there were lots of people coming here that those numbers went up.”

There was opinions that nature reserves are usually less blighted by dog muck because there is an abundance of bins. This keeps the area cleaner and attracts more people to come - but the streets are where the issues lie, one couple said.

“I don’t think it is too bad around here,” Bob Bell told the M.E.N during his walk at Pennignton Flash with wife, Jean. “I bet there is more on the street, for me that’s the issue.

“It could also be the fact that dogs run off and you can’t see them do it and that is why it