A DOG owner has been ordered to pay £1,000... for not keeping her dog on a lead.

Jane Hurry is the first person to have been taken to court by Colchester Council under its order which bans people from keeping dogs off leads on Mill Road playing fields.

Hurry, of Rawlings Crescent, Colchester, was fined £500 in her absence by Chelmsford magistrates.

She must also pay £450 costs and a £50 surcharge.

Colchester Council said Hurry failed to comply with a public spaces protection order when she allowed her dog to be off its lead on and around the Mill Road sports pitches, on January 15 this year.

The order says dogs are banned entirely from being on the pitches and must be kept on a lead if they are being walked on the outskirts.

It was introduced after residents became fed up with dog fouling on the pitches.

Anyone who breaches the order is breaking the law under the Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act.

Offenders are issued a £100 fine but if they don’t pay it, they are sent two reminder letters over the following weeks.

If the warnings are still ignored, the council then takes them to court.

A Colchester Council spokesman added: “At no point in this particular case did we receive any communication from the defendant.”

Martin Goss, Lib Dem councillor for Mile End and cabinet member for waste, said: “The clear message is if you do break the law, please just pay the fine because if it goes to court the magistrates will find against you in your absence.“The person has now got to pay £1,000 which is ten times the normal amount.”

Mr Goss said a number of fines had been issued under the order since it was introduced in October 2016, but this was the first time a recipient had not responded. He added the playing fields are under regular council surveillance and the number of warnings issued or tickets issued has “significantly dropped”.

Phil Coleman, fellow Lib Dem councillor for Mile End, had previously hit out at the increasing faeces on the pitches as he takes students there for school rugby training.

He welcomed the prosecution, adding: “I do not know why this lady did not pay £100 but I know she was taken to court and must now pay £1,000.”

Mr Coleman said he had asked for council zone wardens to step up patrols after two students he teaches fell into dogs’ mess on the fields.

Warning signs were put up and the order was promoted in the media too.

Despite this, Mr Coleman said around Christmas and New Year 13 fixed penalty notices were handed out to offending dog owners.

The Gazette tried to contact Ms Hurry at home yesterday but she did not respond.