New Government legislation comes into force in April when police will no longer be responsible for rounding up stray and vicious dogs and those involved in road traffic accidents.

This task will become the responsibility of local authorities funded by Government money - cash the police will now divert to town halls across the country.

It is important that dog owners locally should have this new policy spelled out so they know what procedures will be in place in Croydon when the new rules apply.

As a council taxpayer and dog lover, I am particularly interested in finding out how this new system will work.

In particular, I would like to know where the council will house strays once looked after at police stations and what provision has been made to train personnel in this specialist field to protect the public.

Local police friends - who have been relieved of this duty in favour of a move to concentrate more on crime-busting in the borough - tell me that little has been done by Croydon Council to date to put a new system in place.

They warn that once the amount of money handed over is decided and agreed, Croydon Council should be urged to announce alternative plans to deal with canine incidents, including handling of strays, urgent numbers to ring if dogs have been lost, stolen or injured in road traffic incidents.

It will no longer be a case of dialling 999 in the event of a dog attack or calling the police to catch a stray dog seen wandering on the highway dangerously close to fast-moving traffic.

My concerns that the council should treat this transition of responsibility seriously are based on an incident at Mayday Hospital a little over two weeks ago when a savage dog was abandoned in the grounds.

Police were called by security at breakfast time after a female cleaner unlocked a gate to empty rubbish into a skip. She was confronted by a snarling pit bull terrier and luckily just managed to slam the gate in time to confine the vicious animal.

The dog could have escaped into the hospital complex as nurses and admin staff arrived for work and outpatients and visitors were visiting busy clinics.

Croydon Council's dog service was summoned by police and one man worked single-handed for two hours to subdue the animal with special restraining equipment before declaring the area safe.

Staff who witnessed the incident told me it was frightening and only the swift action of the cleaner managed to avert a potentially dangerous situation of a vicious dog running wild at the busy hospital.

I think the public should be made aware of the amount of money that is to be made available for this service and how it will be spent to suitably provide a reliable dog service alternative to the one previously offered by the police.

I feel this request is justified in the interests of transparency to ensure that the money is not diverted by a cash-strapped council to pay off the mountain of debt inherited from the previous Labour administration.

NORMAN LUCK, via email