IT'S a dirty job, but someone's got to do it. And ambitious businessman Richard Hawlor is determined to put the job of clearing up dog mess to some good use.

The 21-year-old believes he has found the perfect way to dispose of dog dirt - by recycling tonnes of the stuff to make compost.

Mr Hawlor, from Barnard Castle, County Durham, is already set to make a fortune from a recycling scheme based on used nappies, and now he wants to get his hands dirty again by mixing dog mess with kitchen waste and soil.

The mixture is ideal as compost, claims Mr Hawlor, who has contacted a local authority in Australia, which has been using a similar technique for years.

He is looking for some interest from companies and local authorities in the North-East to help the scheme get off the ground.

He said: "You can kill two birds with one stone, because you are using smelly dog muck with some soil and biodegradable kitchen waste to create a fantastic compost mixture.

"It would be very cheap and would be ideal for farmers who need masses of compost. Even gardeners could use it."

The waste would be put into biodegradable bags and then taken away to be made into the compost.

Mr Hawlor aims to improve the compost by using an agricultural gel, invented by his grandfather, Wilf Tucker, of Burnopfield, in County Dur-ham.

Mr Hawlor said: "My grandfather wanted to find a way of reusing the disposable nappies which are buried and take up to 500 years to break down. He came up with Nutrigel."

With the help of his grandson, Mr Tucker found a way to use the absorbent insides of nappies to release fertiliser slowly in soil.

Mr Hawlor has set up Creative Manufacturing Solutions, and has signed a deal with New Zealand liquid fertiliser firm Mainfert.