AUTHORITIES on Teesside are reporting success in a massive crackdown on people who drop litter and allow their dogs to foul in towns and on open spaces.

Community wardens in Eston have issued the first two £25 on-the-spot fines in Redcar and Cleveland.

One man was guilty of dropping litter close to the High Street area and the second was a man whose dog fouled open space in Dormanstown.

Both men accepted the penalties.

The community warden service began as a month-long pilot in Eston and has recently been extended to Brotton with plans for more wardens in the Normanby and Teesville areas.

Councillor Sylvia Szintai, lead councillor for the environment and infrastructure in Redcar and Cleveland, said: "I believe this gives a clear message to the public that our first priority is trying to instill a greater sense of trying to improve the environment we live in.

"But if those messages are not heeded, we can also demonstrate that we have the power to impose penalties."

Meanwhile, other areas in Teesside are also reporting success in similar schemes.

Dog fouling fines started in Hartlepool in the second half of 1999 and there were six fixed penalty notices in that period. By the second half of this year, there had been 33 incidents.

Ralph Harrison, head of public protection at Hartlepool Borough Council, said: "The increasing number of fixed penalty notices reflects the level of public concern in the town, over dog fouling, and the council's determination to try to tackle this anti social problem."

In the past 12 months, Middlesborough Borough Council has issued 12 notices, and given free poop-scoops to responsible dog owners.

Paul Robertson, principal environmental health officer with Middlesbrough council, said: "We give them fixed penalty notices if we feel it is appropriate."

Geoff Duffield, environmental health manager at the council, said Middlesbrough was tough on litter problems and had dished out 50 fixed penalty notices since July.

Stockton Borough Council said it was looking at introducing on-the-spot fines for dog fouling, from January, and has a pilot scheme in Thornaby. It recorded 34 litter offences in the past year, but only gave out eight fines, while the others were given cautions