Ten-year-old Beverley Harris has raised more than £200 to help get rid of dog mess outside of her school.

The community-spirited girl was so fed up with having to dodge dog muck outside Westlea School, she thought she would get something done about it.

First of all she organised a petition signed by 200 fellow pupils and then organised a sponsored walk with the Westlea Guides and Brownie groups to raise money to pay for the dog fouling bins.

She managed to raise £204 and last night she handed over the money to council officer Steve Harcourt, the group leader of the borough's health and environment services.

Beverley, of Stancombe Park, Westlea, said: "We carried out the sponsored walk from Lydiard Park to Shaw Church through all the lanes of Westlea.

"The amount of dog mess around my school is disgusting. We have to walk in it all the way to school every day."

Toothill and Westlea councillors David Cox (Lab) and Mary Martin (Con) were also at the cheque presentation.

Beverley's mother, Debbie, said: "You can't imagine what it's like for these kids to walk to school only to see nappy bags hanging from trees full of dog muck.

"I am really pleased and proud that Beverley has taken it upon herself to get something done about this."

At the moment the council is launching a trial in the Toothill, Westlea and Lawns areas to see if dog bins would work in the borough and whether people would use them.

Mr Harcourt said: "I think it is great that Beverley has taken such an interest and gone to all the effort to do something about it herself. We are hoping that the dog bin six month pilot scheme will be successful so that we can eventually have them installed across the borough.

"The first dog bins should be in place before Christmas."

The money that Beverley raised will pay for three dog bins which will be installed around her school area.

Toothill and Westlea has been allocated 20 bins, which will be placed in different parts of the area as part of the trial.

Lawns has been allocated ten bins but their location has not been decided yet.

The overall cost of the trial is £5,124 and if the 30-bin scheme continues next year then it will cost about £3,000 a year for upkeep and bin emptying.

A borough-wide scheme of 400 bins will cost an extra £31,450 to install and a total of £38,450 a year to service them.