ENFORCEMENT of bylaws and other legislation is to be placed under the microscope by Hartlepool councillors in the coming months, to see if there is scope for more effective action.

Litter, dog fouling and noise nuisance are just some of the enforcement issues that will be looked at by Hartlepool Borough Council's police scrutiny forum.

The first meeting takes place on Thursday, in the Civic Centre, at 2pm, and residents are invited to go along and have their say.

Councillor Fred Dickson, the forum's chairman, said: "There are many forms of nuisance which affect the quality of life of local people and I think there is a need to look in some detail at how effectively we tackle them."

In the past six months, the authority has issued 24 fixed penalty notices to dog owners who failed to clean up after their pets. Each received a £25 fine.

The authority has also just agreed in principle to reintroduce litter wardens to patrol the town to help stop people from littering the streets.

Coun Dickson said yesterday: "This is going to be a very thorough investigation involving many organisations and individuals who have a responsibility for enforcing local bylaws.

"We do want local residents to come to the meetings and participate in what is going to be a very important debate."