Dog owners are being “encouraged” to use general rubbish bins to clean up after their pets as Watford Borough Council prepares to slash the number of dog waste-only bins.

As part of its 2011/12 budget, the council will remove 189 of its 380 dog bins to save about £25,000 per year.

Notices on the bins revealed a selection would be removed on or after Monday, March 21, although those in parks will be retained.

However, the decision has infuriated dog owners and walkers, who claim it will lead to more people not cleaning up after their pets.

James Marshall, from Greenbank Road, takes his chocolate laborador Max on walks by the Grand Union Canal.

He said: “If everyone who uses the bins use the one bin left, what kind of state is it going to be in.

“If the facilities are there, it encourages people [to use them]. If they take it away, it means you will have to walk quite a distance with your bag to get to a bin, which I don’t think a lot of people will do.

“I cannot see somebody going around the canal with a bag of poo and have to walk back to the one bin to dispose of it and then continue on their walk.

“I just don’t see the sense of removing the bins to allow the dogs to foul anywhere. They were put in to prevent this.”

Jean Chapman, from Middle Way, said a notice on a dog bin was the first anyone knew about the changes.

“Taking the bins away is just ridiculous,” she said.

“For environmental health to suggest they take them away with all the health problems it can cause, it doesn’t make sense.”

Councillor Jackie Connal told Watford Borough Council on Wednesday she had received telephone calls from “an awful lot of worried people”, particularly those with children.

But Mayor Dorothy Thornhill said there was a “big misunderstanding” about where dog waste can be disposed of.

She said: “The fact there’s a bin with dog poo on the side means [people think] you can only put dog poo in the bin that says dog poo.

“Actually you can put it in any bin. At home, where do mums put their nappies? In the bin. Dog owners take it home and put it in the bin.

“We are encouraging people to use other bins so it shouldn’t actually make any difference [by taking some bins away].

“Irresponsible dog owners will always be irresponsible. The message we have to get out is there’s nothing wrong with the more than 600 litter and dog bins being a place for dog mess because there are no health hazards and it’s what you do at home.”