Breach of any of the current PSPO are considered as an offence and will incur either a Fixed Penalty Notice of £100 or a fine on prosecution in court of no greater than £1000.

Current orders in place in Warrington

Dog fouling and control

There is a Dog Control Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in place for Warrington.

It provides the ability to take action against irresponsible dog owners who fail to control or clean up after their dog. The order covers Parks, open spaces, areas of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI), nature reserves, cemeteries and cremetoria.

Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI) sites and Nature Reserves

The sites of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Nature Reserves covered by the PSPO are:

• Holcroft Moss
• Thelwall/Woolston Eyes
• Risley Moss
• Rixton Claypits

Please keep your dog on a lead at Paddington Meadows, Bewsey Meadows and Gatewarth Meadow between March and August to not disturb ground nesting birds.

Dogs must be on a lead at Risley Moss and Rixton Clay Pits Nature reserves and are not permitted to enter ponds and waterbodies or disturb grazing sheep

Cemeteries, crematoria and closed cemeteries

The cemeteries, crematoria and closed cemeteries covered by the PSPO are:

The 6 week challenge period runs from 11 December 2023

We recognise that the vast majority of dog owners continue to act responsibly but the PSPO allows us to address the antisocial behaviour associated with failing to clean up dog fouling and to keep a dog under control.

The order creates the following offences:-

• The borough wide offence of failing to remove dog faeces without reasonable excuse.
• The offence of failing to keep a dog on a lead without reasonable excuse on the land identified.
• The borough wide offence of failure to comply with a direction given by an authorised officer to put and keep the dog(s) on a lead.

Before making a PSPO, the council must be satisfied on reasonable grounds that two conditions are met.

The first condition is that:

• activities carried out in a public place within the authority’s area have had a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality
• it is likely that activities will be carried on in a public place within that area and that they will have such an effect

The second condition is that the effect. Or the likely effect of the activities:

• is, or is likely to be, of a persistent or continuing nature
• is, or is likely to be, such as to make the activities unreasonable
• justifies the restrictions imposed by the order

Breach of any of the current PSPO are considered as an offence and will incur either a Fixed Penalty Notice of £100 or a fine on prosecution in court of no greater than £1000.

**For those who wish to challenge the local authority’s decision to re-introduce a PSPO, the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime & Policing Act 2014 creates a specific statutory appeal route, which must be followed by ‘interested persons’ (those who live in, work in or regularly visit the relevant area). The deadline for issuing a challenge is six weeks from the date the PSPO is made  and the relevant venue is the High Court.

The challenge can be made under two grounds:

• The council did not have the power to make the Order or to include particular prohibitions or requirements.
• That one of the requirements (for instance consultation) has not been complied with.

If you require any further information in relation to public space protection orders, please use the contact us.

Warrington Borough Council
East Annexe,
Town Hall,
Sankey Street,
Warrington,
WA1 1UH

Call 01925 443322