Dishing the Dirt

by Sam Langford

Middle class people are more likely to complain to their local authority if the services provided are of a low standard a Dependent report has revealed. It has shown a link between the number of BSkyB subscribers and the incidence of dog fouling down a particular street.

Statistics, using socio-economic groupings from Nielsons' Media & Marketing Pocket Book 1998, NTC/Oxford, show that there are nearly four times as many D and E subscribers to BSkyB as there are from the A and B groups, 9% and 37% respectively.

The investigation found that in Alliance Avenue in West Hull, which is predominantly a C2/D locality, out of a total of 272 homes 67 had satellite dishes. This compared to 68 incidences of dog fouling.

 

 
In a street of similar length, Richmond Street, less than a mile away but in an A/B locality,it's a different story.

In a total of 61 homes there are no satellite dishes and only three incidences of dog fouling.
Responding to a suggestion that less money is spent on areas inhabited by people from lower socio-economic groups, Kingston upon Hull City Council environment spokesperson, Bill Oakley stated;
"We have to meet up to the Environmental Protection Act. It has been my experience that in many meetings with The Tidy Britain Group we feel that the problem of dog fouling is more concentrated in the higher class areas but I'm afraid I don't know much about Sky television."

photography:sam langford