AN AYR pet shop owner has vowed to tackle the town’s dog poo problem by giving communities free dog foul bags.

Catherine Hutchison launched her nifty DIY dog poo stations after being inspired on a trip to the Lake District.

But of the seven stations initially put out, only two remain, but Catherine remains confident the community spirit in Ayr will mean the dog foul bags are here to stay.

Catherine told the Ayr Advertiser: “It’s disheartening that some of them have been taken but it hasn’t put us off. We will choose our locations more carefully.”

“Some of our customers have kindly become guardians for the stations, we’ve got four helping us out at the minute making sure the bags are kept filled, it’s great.

Tied bottle stations vanished outside the PDSA shop on Alloway Street, Castlehill Woods, and alongside the river walkway near UWS.

For Catherine it’s all about changing the attitude of things in Ayr, which she says have become more and more negative.

Now she hopes the expansion of her dog foul bottles will be a positive step in the right direction.

Catherine said: “If we can show everybody that we are proud of our town and that we care about our town then that can only be good.

“This is a nice place to be, the people here care about it but there’s so much negativity about the place at the minute and that constant negativity will just lead to more negative experiences.”

“We thought we would stick these up to try and make a difference.

Using plastic bottles as a dispenser, the bags are stuffed inside and then zip tied, each station has 25 bags.

There are two stations to be found at Low Green next to Ayr Beach, at Newton Shore next to St Nicholas golf club.

Catherine added: “It’s not just there for responsible dog owners who will pick up their own, but some who even pick up the mess belonging to another dog, a lot them will pick it up especially at the Low Green where there’s a lot of kids around.

“Whatever the circumstances, we want to make it clear. Don’t leave it in our town.”