Dirty dogs were set to be outlawed in Islington’s parks.

Councillors, fed up of fouling in grassy areas, were extending the number of “dog exclusion zones”.

Philip Aldis, the town hall’s director of recreation, said families were prevented from enjoying Islington’s few green spaces because the dogs were making a mess of them.

But Cllr Pat Haynes said of the plans: “There’s still a lot of careful treading to do.”

In other ridiculous animal news, Whittington Hospital was being plagued by a pack of wild cats.

They started appearing when building work was taking place on the hospital – and their number grew to 150.

There were fears the cats could eventually start transmitting diseases to staff and patients.

Environmental health chiefs were working with hospital staff, the RSPCA and Cat Action Trust to come up with ways of “humanely” getting rid of the animals.