A dog owner has accused police of wasting time after he was hunted down for letting his pet foul a pavement.

Two police officers and three civilian community support officers launched a hunt for Trevor Prust after he failed to clean up after his mongrel, Marmite.

They carried out house-to-house inquiries until they tracked him down to the flat of his partner Walter Noon in Albion Street, Brighton.

When Mr Noon told them Mr Prust had gone shopping, they searched the flat to make sure he was not there.

The support officers, who have a range of powers to deal with low-level nuisance, had earlier confronted Mr Prust as he walked the dog near his partner's home.

When they warned him there was a £30 penalty for failing to clean up the mess, Mr Prust, 58, said he did not have a plastic bag.

The police said the dog snapped at one of the support officers, biting his jacket, before Mr Prust walked off, refusing to give his details.

The support officers called for police back-up and, when two PCs joined them, launched a hunt for the offender.

Mr Noon, 54, an epileptic, said: "The police arrived and I told them Trevor wasn't here. I don't think they believed me so I invited them to check and they all came in and searched the house. I feel traumatised."

Mr Prust, of Montague Street, Brighton, returned to find a note asking him to attend John Street police station before 4pm. He went and has agreed to pay a £30 fine.

Mr Prust questioned why, when Sussex police faced a string of complaints from victims of crime after officers failed to respond to emergency calls, they could spare officers for such a trivial offence.

Last month The Argus told how Crawley attack victim Sarah Standing, 36, made a 999 call and then waited nine days for police to arrive.

Mr Prust said: "The police say they are stretched but somehow they found the resources when I let the dog do what it did.

"I didn't argue with the officers, I just said I didn't have anything to pick up the mess with."

Inspector Nev Kemp denied sending two police officers and three support officers to search for Mr Prust was an overreaction.

He said Mr Prust had been uncooperative and was a "particularly difficult" gentleman.