IRRESPONSIBLE dog owners visiting a country park risk having their pets' indiscretions highlighted with fluorescent paint.

The idea will involve countryside wardens spraying pink paint on dog dirt found at the park for a week, from Wednesday. It's an attempt to show up owners who fail to clean up after their dogs.

At the moment poop left around the area of the visitor centre at Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park, just off the A171 Guisborough-to-Nunthorpe road, cannot be cleared up by staff for health and safety reasons. So instead it will be marked using paint.

The move follows a successful trial at Guisborough Forest and Walkway, at Pinchinthorpe, and comes as part of a dog week at the park.

Helen Taylor, countryside ranger for Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said the dog mess could potentially expose children to the toxocara roundworm infection.

"This year we've had 940 children on organised visits plus children with their families, so that's thousands of small feet that have potentially been exposed to dog mess and the toxocara infection," she said.

"We do approach owners if they haven't used a scoop. Some pick it up, but I'm afraid others aren't interested. Why should they, seems to be the attitude. But it's not a big problem We're only talking about a minority."