Stray or abandoned dogs are being left to wander Kent's streets in ever-increasing numbers.

Figures secured by Kentonline show there has been a considerable rise in the number of unwanted pooches seized by the authorities.

The statistics were released five months after councils starting taking authority for rounding up strays - a responsibility held by the police until 6th April 2008.

But they defy a report out this week by The Dogs Trust, which claims said the number of stray dogs had actually dropped across the country.

It revealed there were almost 97,000 stray dogs taken in by local councils in the UK during 1997. The charity’s Chief Executive, Clarissa Brown, said “this is the first year that the number of stray dogs in the UK has dropped below 100,000. But this is still far too high a figure.”

However, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council told us that between the April 1 and August 31 last year 62 stray dogs were picked up, compared with the same period this year when the figure rose to 85.

Ashford Borough Council has reported similar increases. Over the same period in 2007, 41 dogs were put in kennels compared to this year where the authority picked up 51 strays.

An Ashford Borough Council spokesman said the increase was "likely to be due to the police no longer being responsible for this service.”

On average Canterbury City Council picks up 150 strays each year. An authority spokesman said they had not seen a specific increase in the number of strays but “the workload has increased by 2/7 because we are taking on weekend calls.”

Maidstone Borough Council said: “While most other Kent authorities asked for an extension of six months to be prepared, MBC and Swale BC entered a partnership with Maidstone police and accepted total responsibility for stray dogs from 6 April 2008. This arrangement ceased at the end of August 2008, but MBC is still dealing with 24 hour strays in association with local kennels.”