A BASINGSTOKE shopping centre which is welcoming dogs inside said it has “no authority” to fine people whose pets foul.

Festival Place announced it was becoming dog friendly in August, with a new policy allowing people to bring their canine companions into the centre.

More than 60 stores have agreed to allow dogs inside, including restaurants, cafes, clothes shops, jewellery stores and banks.

However, just weeks into the new policy and customers have already spotted dog mess on the floor inside the centre.

Despite having CCTV cameras in operation, Festival Place said it has no powers to capture the culprits and fine them.

READ MORE: Festival Place becomes 'dog friendly' - everything you need to know about the new policy

A Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) was put in place for Basingstoke for dog fouling in 2020, making it an offence for anyone in control of a dog not to clear up after their dog has fouled.

A dog owner could be fined £100 if they are caught committing this offence.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council confirmed that the PSPO covers public spaces within the borough including any areas of Festival Place that the public has access to. 

However, a spokesperson for the shopping centre said it will not be using its CCTV to catch those dog fouling. 

They added: “By welcoming dogs into Festival Place, we know that there will be the occasional accident.

“We do have CCTV in the centre but this is only for the purpose of crime prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of offenders. In addition, CCTV is used for staff and public health and safety purposes.

“We do not have the authority to fine people whose dogs foul and just hope they follow our guidelines to clean up after their pet.”

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Festival Place has guidelines in place regarding dogs coming inside, which include people being asked to clean up after their dog and take any mess away with them.

Dog owners are also asked to alert Festival Place staff in the event of a fouling incident.

The policy also states that Festival Place “reserves the right to ask visitors with dogs to leave if we feel our guidelines are being breached”.

The spokesperson for the shopping centre said its team are “always on the lookout for any fouling incidents and will ensure areas are cleared as soon as practically possible”.

They added: “We are delighted with the feedback we’ve had from our visitors since we allowed our four-legged friends into the centre.

“I think we all understand though that from time to time there may be the odd accident. We do have guidelines in place to ensure that Festival Place continues to be a pleasure for all our customers, and part of those is to ask that people clean up after their dogs.”