Dog owners have caused a stink in the town – after 314 piles of poo were picked up in an hour and a half.

Swale council’s environment response and cleansing teams joined together as part of the national Big Scoop scheme, run by Keep Britain Tidy and the Dogs Trust.

Like the Times Guardian and Swale council’s Foul Play campaign, it calls for people to clear up and ‘bag and bin’ their pet’s waste.

Staff spent 90 minutes collecting mess left behind by irresponsible residents in Sheerness, including from children’s play areas, alleyways and near the seafront.

The teams met at the clock tower on Wednesday last week and filled a large plastic tube with what they had picked up to highlight how bad the problem is. Three quarters of the muck was found in alleyways.

Figures have been released showing how much waste a dog can produce in its lifetime. A cocker spaniel produced about 2,445kg – the same weight as a Mercedes Benz GL500 – and a Jack Russell around 1,535kg, the weight of a Renault Megane.

Keep Britain Tidy estimates the dog population in the UK was eight million in 2010 and the biggest threat from their poo is toxocariasis – an infection of the roundworm toxocara canis.

If the eggs of the parasite are swallowed, it can result in infection lasting between six and 24 months with symptoms including eye disorders, aches, dizziness, nausea, asthma, seizures and fits.

It most commonly affects children between 18 months and five years.

Swale’s cabinet member for environment and rural affairs, Cllr David Simmons, said: “We are taking this drastic step to highlight how many people are not cleaning up after their animals. Had the waste we collected been left in the high street, people would quite rightly be outraged.

“Why do the minority think it is acceptable to leave dog waste on the streets and alleyways? Owning a dog is a huge responsibility.”