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Originally Posted by Neil
Nothing at all to do with me, maybe Ken knows how this idea started.
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This whole front page exclusive is the result of an off the cuff remark at an Area Council meeting after I was contacted by a forensic vet who had seen our ongoing attempts at tackling dog fouling in the national press. I have had a brief e-mail correspondence with the gentleman who explained what he does and have said I will get back in touch at some point but that is all. I haven't spoken to him, we haven't done any costings and it is not something I have explored in any depth at all. Despite telling reporter Jon McPherson this repeatedly, he decided to make a sensational news story out of it in much the same way as he did with the bus trips last month.
My working relationship with Emma Cruces at the Lancashire Telegraph far more satisfactory and if I ask her not to run a story until I have more facts for her she will wait rather than fill up the Hyndburn page with rubbish like this.
I'm afraid this Grade A story from the Accrington Observer has only led me to to further mistrust its reporters. Pity really, I always try to give them something each week for their Rishton page. Hacking off the sources of your news stories isn't the best way of going about things and I won't be sending stories or giving interviews to the Accrington Observer in future.
Enjoy your front page story, I hope it was worth it.