Calls have been made to remove all dog bins in Portishead, with one councillor describing their use as ‘farcical’.

Portishead Town Council agreed a new dog waste collection contract at its February meeting after bins started overflowing, but Cllr Peter Burden believes they should be scrapped altogether.

The town council signed off on an agreement with a new contractor to empty its bins after the previous provider pulled out at short notice.

But Cllr Burden, representing Portishead South, told colleagues at the Folk Hall the authority should do away with dog bins altogether and offer more litter bins instead, in line with policies used by other authorities across the country.

He said: “It is now acceptable to put dog waste in litter bin. Any bin will do is a national policy.

“Can we please now move as fast as possible away from providing dog bins?

“It is quite clear that any bin will do – it just seems farcical to me now.

“We should move away from dog bins as the requirements for disposal have changed quite dramatically.

“Let’s move over to providing litter bins in as many locations as appropriate.”

Cllr Marilyn Koops said the town council ‘took action very quickly’ to find a replacement contractor.

She added: “The previous contractor pulled out without giving us any warning and we ended up with a situation of bins not being emptied.

“We have now contracted a local contractor for a year with a six-month review to ensure the frequency of collection is at the correct level.”

The town council and North Somerset Council both provide separately managed dog bins across North Somerset.

Town councillor Jean Lord urged the authority to create an ‘accurate map’ of their locations and clarify which council is responsible for which dog bin.

Cllr Arthur Terry added: “I think Cllr Burden’s point is a valid one, but we clearly need to continue the service at the moment.

“For the new council (after the May election), one of the issues it needs to tackle is to review the provision of dog bins and whether or not we should be providing extra litter bins as opposed to specific dog bins.”