A COUNCILLOR who called for more money to clean Carlisle’s streets has been slapped with a fine for not picking up his dog’s mess.

Robert Betton, who revealed the offence was committed outside the city council’s Civic Centre headquarters, says he is disappointed with himself as he faced a call to resign.

Just weeks ago, the independent city councillor for Botcherby put forward a motion passed as part of the city council’s budget for the introduction of a £60,000 pilot scheme to fund two new environmental wardens to tackle problems including dog fouling.

A Carlisle City Council spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that Cllr Betton has been issued with a fine after he failed to pick up after his dog.

“We are processing this as we would any other incident and a fixed penalty notice has been issued.

“We take the issue of dog fouling very seriously and dog owners have a responsibility to be aware of what their dog is up to and clean up after it. We take appropriate enforcement action if we feel an offence has occurred.”

Mr Betton has campaigned for cleaner streets since he was first elected nine years ago. He has even previously branded those involved in dog fouling as “disgusting”, saying that more funds should be invested to help tackle the problem in Botcherby.

Mr Betton, who has a collie called Cheeky, told the News & Star he was “disappointed” at what had happened.

He said: “I accept the responsibility. Anyone can get distracted. I had the intention of picking it up. I had the packs in my pocket.

“I am a responsible and passionate dog owner. I am dedicated to tackling fly-tipping and dog fouling.”

The councillor, who insisted that he picks up after his dog, apologised for what had happened, adding: “I don’t expect any preferences.

“I have broken the rules and have paid my fine. I have admitted what I did in front of an enforcement officer, picked up my dog pieces and put it in the dustbin.

“At the time when the officer saw me my details weren’t taken down and I wasn’t informed I was getting a penalty notice. I am disappointed with myself.”

Other politicians have spoken of their disappointment in Mr Betton.

Chris Southward, the Labour politician who holds the council’s environment brief, called for Mr Betton to resign - something the councillor said he would not be doing.

“I think it is totally appalling,” said Mr Southward.

Pointing to the motion put forward by Mr Betton to plough extra cash into cleaning up Carlisle, Mr Southward added: “The guy makes this point about caring about cleaning up after your dog. It proves that what he says and what he does are completely different things. People need to know about this.

“He should resign. He made a huge fuss appealing to councillors, saying we are not doing enough. We haven’t even got the people he asked for yet. We don’t expect councillors to be doing these things.”

John Mallinson, leader of the council’s opposition Conservative group, added: “There are policies for dealing with this. It shouldn’t happen. I am really surprised at Robert, I thought he would have known better.”

Fellow independent councillor Jeffrey Bomford agreed that tackling dog fouling is a serious issue.

“It is always annoying to see dog foul on the paths,” he said. “I don’t judge Councillor Betton. I know he picks up after his dog and is passionate about keeping the ward clear of fouling, hence why he put forward a motion on this matter.”