A Dundee councillor has kicked up a stink about “steaming piles of dung” left in the city centre by police horses.
Councillor Ken Lynn said the night-mare mess deposited by police horses in the town is a health hazard.
The mounted unit was called in to patrol the city centre over the weekend to coincide with the Dundee versus Celtic match at Dens Park.
Councillor Lynn said he failed to see the point of deploying horses in the busy shopping district and criticised the amount of dung left behind as they trotted through the likes of South Tay Street.
The Maryfield councillor confronted police about the issue at a public meeting in Stobswell.
He said: “I know mounted police are used at the likes of football games for crowd control reasons, but I fail to see any sense in deploying these great big animals into the busy streets of Dundee city centre.
“The horses were leaving big steaming piles of horse dung behind them as they trotted up and down the street. If nothing else, the risk of a public health hazard should be a cause for concern and a reason why the horses shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
“I just fail to see any real point in the horses being in the city centre.”
Area commander Chief Inspector Gary Ogilvie responded to the councillor’s criticism, saying the horses were highly effective and went down well with the public.
He said: “Mounted police were in Dundee due to the football match taking place on the Saturday.
“So, to fully utilise the unit, they were deployed in the city centre on Friday and Saturday and the mere presence of the horses being there was very effective.
“The horses were received well by the public and with regards to the mess left behind, no complaints were made to us at the time or at any time afterwards.”
Members of the public did, however, turn their noses up on social media at the mess left behind.
Doug Aitken said: “So, Dundee City Council, if a dog fouls and it isn’t picked up it’s £40, what about a horse? Or are police exempt?”
Another tweeter, Brian Beacon, thought the horses were in town for a more pressing reason.
He tweeted: “Dundee police horses in South Tay Street? Where’s the protest?”