Could this be the end of dog poo left on our streets and parks in Milton Keynes?

The council's newly-recruited Enforcement Officers are now patrolling city street, poised to issue on-the-spot fines of up to £125 to dog owners who fail to pick up their pet's poo.

The same punishment will apply to people caught dropping litter - even those who throw a cigarette end on the ground.

And if people fail to pay the fine, they will end up being prosecuted and potentially fined even more at a magistrates' court, MK Council has warned.

The council announced earlier this month its no-nonsense bid to clamp down on litter dropping, dog poo, fly tipping and fly posting under environmental laws. A team of specialist enforcement officers were recruited and they have now started their duties.

Each officer has the power to issue an on-the-spot fine to any culprit they see.

Wearing body cameras and dressed to smart black uniforms, they are looking out for people dropping fast food wrappers, empty coffee cups, sweet papers, used face masks and any other form of litter. They are also watching dog owners and pouncing on any they see failing to clear up after their dog has fouled.

An MK Council spokesman said: "The Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) are issued by Enforcement Officers for environmental crimes under various pieces of legislation. The FPN is issued as an alternative to a prosecution in court. FPNs can be issued to anyone over 18 years old and penalties will vary according to the offence."

He added: "Examples of offences where a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) may be issued include fly tipping, dropping litter, failing to clear up after your dog has fouled, fly posting and abandoning vehicles."

Already the Citizen has heard from a man who was threatened with a fine after dropping a cigarette butt.

He said: "I tossed a biodegradable cigarette end outside of Tesco kingston, thinking nothing of littering. I was immediately approached by one of this team, I immediately picked up the cigarette end next to me and put it in the bin.

"He then proceeded to threaten me with various fines, the figure kept changing from £125 all the way up to £1000. When he first approached me I asked him if he was serious and told him unpolitely to "go away" and get a real job, but when I realised he was serious I said nothing more to him.

"I'm an environmentally conscious person, I always recycle, never drop actual litter and have never given a thought to dropping biodegradable cigarette ends as they disintegrate within days."

In fact, cigarette filters are not officially biodegradable and are classed as litter.

A spokesman for contractors WISE, who are providing some of the new environment al officers, said: "Litter includes not only cigarette butts but also chewing gum. In many ways these items are more of a nuisance and more expensive to clean up than other items of rubbish."

WISE also warn pleading that their was no litter bin of poo bin nearby will not be accepted as an excuse.

"It is not feasible for the council to put litter bins in every street, road and highway in the borough, though of course every effort is made to place bins where they are most needed and where there are the greatest levels of pedestrian footfall, such as in town centres, major shopping areas and parks and open spaces.," said the spokesman.

"Dog poo, once bagged can be placed in any litter bin in the borough. Where bins are not available then it is up to everyone to act responsibly and make arrangements to either take their litter home or carry it until a litter bin is available."