Disappointed children were forced to leave their after-school football club due to the amount of dog poo on the school’s green.

Dog walkers are being reminded that school grounds are not open to the public after Salcombe Primary School’s popular Monday football club had to leave the pitch after just half an hour.

Headteacher Andy Pugsley, who runs the football club, decided to bring everyone inside after he saw more than seven different instances of dog fouling.

The area is usually blocked off by a gate to prevent the public from trespassing on the pitch, but the gate is currently broken. The school is working to have it fixed by the time children are back from half term.

Since there is no caretaker for the school at the moment, Mr Pugsley had to clean up the mess himself before other children were able to use the school’s pitch.

Mr Pugsley said: “It was very disappointing to have to cancel our football club; we shouldn’t have to go up to the school playing field to pick up dog mess.

“The playing field is private land and we have been notified by members of the community that they have seen people walking their dogs on the field at weekends.”

Parents complained on Facebook on Monday evening. Mum Lynne Johnston said: “There are lots of disappointed kids today at Salcombe Primary School who couldn’t do their after-school football club, due to people using the school’s pitch to walk their dogs and leaving their filthy mess behind. I hope whoever is responsible is proud of themselves.”