A YOUNG Musselburgh girl, who has taken action in a bid to stop dog fouling in the town, has been praised as “a credit to the community”.

Seven-year-old Ava Lily Davidson, a P3 pupil at Stoneyhill Primary School, was inspired to make her own dog poo bag dispensers after watching a TV programme on Newsround about school pupil Ivy Meager who provided them in her home town of Burnham-on-Sea.

As Ava, of Clayknowes Drive, was also studying the environment in class, she wanted to do something to benefit Musselburgh.

She has made her first dog poo bag dispenser out of an old plastic bottle, filling it with environmentally friendly bags for members of the public to use to clean up after their pooch.

Ava has installed the first dispenser on a lamppost on Whitehill Farm Road, where her grandparents live, and is hoping to site others around Musselburgh. She is keen to put a dispenser at Whitehill Park near her school because the area is used for football and is also targeting the promenade.

Her mum Stephanie said the dispenser was proving a success with dog walkers, adding: “Hopefully more and more people will make use of them.”

The anti-litter campaign Don’t Mess With Mussy is backing Ava’s efforts.

The dog poo dispenser has been added to a map of the town on the campaign’s Facebook page, which also identifies locations of litter bins, recycling facilities, and electric vehicle charging points.

Don’t Mess with Mussy organiser Melanie Roccio said: “Ava is a credit to the community and is setting a wonderful example to adults and children. Getting children involved in this kind of thing from a young age is the key to our future.”

A spokesperson for East Lothian Council said: “We are aware of a number of individuals across the county who are providing poo bag dispensers across their local community to help reduce the problem of dog fouling.

“Some dog owners still fail to pick up after their pet, which is both unsightly and unhygienic. Any attempt to tackle this is welcome and there can be no excuses for failing to bag it and bin it.”