Caerphilly County Borough Council’s cabinet will consider banning dogs from marked sports pitches.

Cabinet members could make an amendment to add the ban to the Public Space Protection Order 2017.

The order, which was introduced in October 2017, already bans dogs from all enclosed children’s play areas in the borough.

A consultation with sports clubs in the borough found that 88% agreed that dogs should be banned from marked sports pitches.

One rugby club said that matches had to be stopped because of the amount of dog fouling on the pitch.

A proposal to extend the current order by one year without amendment has also been presented to cabinet, with the order expiring in October this year.

Due to the time constraints caused as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, extending the order would give more time for the consultation to take place.

Since the order was introduced in October 2017, there has been 1,940 complaints about dog fouling investigated by the council, with 39 fixed penalty notices issued for dog fouling and 59 issued to owners who failed to carry bags to clean up dog faeces.

Councillor Nigel George, cabinet member for environment and neighbourhood services, said: “Whilst the majority of dog owners clean up after their pets, there are still a number of irresponsible owners who allow their dogs to foul in public places without clearing up after them.

“As well as being extremely unpleasant for the public and users of sports pitches, there are also serious health risks linked with contaminated dog faeces.”