'We are sick of Dog-shit Alley'

Fed up with traipsing through piles of dog dirt twice a day to take her seven-year-old son Kieran to school, Jackie McKie has started a petition.

And it seems the rest of the community share her feeling towards the walkway.

More than 100 parents and residents have signed the petition in a bid to clean up the path they have to use to take their children to St Mary's School in Hayes Road, Greenhithe.

If they were to avoid the route they say their journey to school would take 20 minutes longer.

The 46-year-old, of Elm Road, which leads onto the alley, wants the council and dog owners to clean up their act. Mrs McKie, who also has three grown-up children and two grandchildren aged three and six, says walking along the unlit short-cut is like playing a game of hopscotch.

The full-time mum said: "I'm totally sick of it. It's not just the council which needs to do something about this. People should be cleaning up after their dogs and we are appealing for them to do just that. "In the summer the smell was so bad it made Kieran violently sick.

"I had to take him back home to get changed and it made him late for school." Mrs McKie added: "Mums have to carry buggies in the alley as you can't dodge it with four wheels.

Everyone knows it as Dog-shit Alley. "A man who signed the petition threw out a new pair of trainers after walking through there because they were caked in the stuff and he cold not face cleaning them. It's not fair on the kids. They can go blind from this stuff." Mrs McKie will now hand the petition to Dartford Council, which is responsible for cleaning up the mess.

A spokesman said: "We're as disgusted as the parents by irresponsible dog owners who fail to clean up after their animals.

"If we identify those responsible we can take action.

"We will be sending an inspector to investigate the issue with a view to providing a litter bin and increasing the number of times the alley is cleaned each month."