First, the problem

Horse droppings along Church Walk, ten minutes before school's out

We'd like to make clear from the outset that we support the police and like the fact that the Metropolitan Police training centre for mounted police is headquartered in our villages. We are pleased to see them around and about, although the area is now policed by Surrey Police. But many people, particularly mothers of young children and elderly people who use wheelchairs, have told us they find it objectionable when police horses come along footpaths and worse, leave their droppings in steaming piles right across the path. This is particularly the case in Church Walk and along Ash Path, both of which are heavily used as school routes. No attempt is made by the police to clear up the droppings - this year (2006) we've had some dropped right outside the gate to the playground of the Junior School on Ash Path while fifty mothers were queuing up to collect their children. You may think that this is not only poor Public Relations by the Metropolitan Police, but that it will hardly encourage people to abide by the laws on dog foulings and on proper use of footpaths to see the police insouciantly setting a bad example.

Now, the law

Both Church Walk and Ash Path are footpaths, not bridle paths. DEFRA, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, answered our enquiry on these issues as follows:

"Footpaths are ways over which the right of way is on foot only and horseriders riding on a footpath are committing trespass against the landowner. Highway authorities (usually the county council) have a duty to assert and protect the rights of the public to the use and enjoyment of any highway. In this instance, 'highway' includes rights of way. This means they are obliged by law to keep rights of way open and useable. There are various provisions that assist in carrying out this duty, for example, the local highway authority can put in place byelaws to prevent horseriding if there is a particular problem. Therefore the best course of action is to contact the local highway authority.

" Under the Litter (Animal Droppings) Order 1991 (S.I. 1991/961), dog fouling is specifically stated as an item of refuse to which the duty under section 89 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 applies. It must therefore be removed from relevant land. Other types of animal droppings, such as horse manure, are not covered by this Order.

" However, in addition to the duty to keep land clear of litter and refuse, local authorities must also keep highways clean. In respect of this requirement, horse manure should be removed by local authorities as part of their street cleansing regime. Where there is a particular problem with horse manure local authorities are recommended to approach the local stables to see whether an alternative route for the horses could be used, or whether, to strengthen public relations, the stable could make arrangements for dealing with the droppings."