A PUBLICAN is mounting a campaign to clean up Leominster because she fears the town is going to the dogs.

Julie Saxon, of The Grape Vaults, says she is fed up with a disgusting volume of dog muck and litter fouling the streets.

She has raised a petition and is calling on Herefordshire Council chief Neil Pringle, and council contractors Jarvis, for action.

"Leominster is in a mess. We want tourists to come here, but at the moment they would take one look at it and say 'it's a filthy place' and would never come back," says Julie.

"People don't want to walk around a town where they have to check their shoes every two minutes."

Dog muck is carried on shoes into pubs and shops. Chip wrappers and other rubbish is building up in the streets, she says.

Julie - a dog owner who welcomes dogs into her Broad Street pub - is calling for more fines to be levied on lazy owners who allow their pets to foul pavements. She also wants a more effective 'muck and litter' squad to be set up.

Leominster Town Council has forwarded her petition of 100 names to Herefordshire Council. Town councillors have added their support.

Former mayor Roger Hunt said: "Leominster is becoming a very tatty place. The cleaning around the town has deteriorated over the last few months. It is nowhere near the standard it used to be."

A Herefordshire Council spokeswoman said Herefordshire Jarvis Services had recently been experiencing problems in Leominster due to breakdowns of a mechanical sweeper and the turnover of some staff.

New employees had now been recruited and a new machine sweeper was on order.

"There has been a combination of factors behind the problems and we hope things will now improve," said the spokeswoman.