Schoolchildren who turned their noses up at dog poo dumped around a woodland area have started a poster campaign to help clear the mess.

Children from St Mary’s Primary School in Church Lane, Chessington, ventured out to the Castle Hill nature reserve where they saw piles of dog faeces along their school walking trip.

Many of the year 2 pupils were disgusted when the muck got stuck on to their school shoes after stepping on it.

Teacher Jo Brimmell said: “The children were pretty disgusted. They were all saying ‘argh yuck’.

“How can we expect children to walk to school when there is dog mess everywhere?”

Once the class of 28 returned to school from their walk they decided to write persuasive letters to kick-start a clean-up mission of the nature reserve and surrounding areas.

Seven-year-old Katie Gill wrote and hand delivered a letter to Chessington councillor Rachel Reid.

She said: “There was lots of dog poo and broken glass and I was upset about it. I wrote a letter to my councillor asking her to get rid of it all.”

Coun Reid said: “It is really nice that children care about these sorts of things. I got the mess cleaned up straight away and I sent her a letter back.”

The colourful posters created by youngsters at the school aim to make dog owners think twice about not clearing up after pets.

The posters will be displayed around Churchfields in Chessington with more expected to be stuck up in nearby roads during the coming weeks.