Dog-walkers in a Norfolk village have been warned to keep a close eye on their pets after blue pellets resembling rat poison were found in a pile of food on a public road.

Concerned Hemsby residents contacted Great Yarmouth Borough Council after food and blue pellets had been strewn on the ground on Yarmouth Road.

The council’s environmental team has visited the area, placed a warning notice on the bin and is monitoring the site.

“People are advised to prevent their animals from eating the substances around the litter bin as a precaution,” the environmental rangers said.

Lorraine Smalldridge, 57, said that last Tuesday (March 19) she and her 14-year-old daughter were walking their dog, a chihuhua, when they saw what appeared to be cat biscuits and poison pellets mixed together beside the bin.

“It looked like a deliberate act rather than accidental,” Mrs Smalldridge said.

They cleaned up the mess but it was there again the next day.