A six-year-old girl is campaigning for a clean-up of broken glass on Hampstead Heath - after her pet dog slashed its paw on a discarded shard.

Despite her young age, Hampstead schoolgirl Cassia Stuttard has personally written to Heath officials demanding action.

She was moved to act after watching her pet dog Clio endure an operation and weeks of pain when her paw was split open by glass.

Cassia, a pupil at St Christopher’s School in Hampstead, said: “Her back left paw was slashed in two and the glass has obviously poked in there and she’s not allowed to lick it or anything else.

“I was not happy at all because she’s like my best friend.”

Cassia emailed the City of London Corporation, which manages the Heath, today after two-year-old pup Clio, a Springer Spaniel Cavalier cross bread, was injured on July 24.

In the letter, she says: “Please could you have a campaign to clean-up the broken glass on the Heath and also put notices up to try and stop people dropping glass.

“We know that Clio is not the only dog that this has happened to and so in the interest of all dogs, please could you do something about the glass.”

Cassia’s mum Coriander, 35, who lives in Hampstead and walks Clio daily on the Heath, echoed her daughter’s calls for action.

She said: “I have noticed there have been bits and pieces of glass, but since we’ve been in and out of the vets lots of people have said that they’ve seen lots of other dogs that have cut their paws on the Heath.

“The vet also said this is not the first time this has happened.

“It doesn’t take a very big piece of glass to potentially cut a dog quite badly.

“Cassia was very keen to campaign and do something, we were all so shocked.”

The six-year-old hopes her campaign will be successful in preventing another treasured family pet from being hurt.

She said: “I would like for people to clear up and care more about dogs, because they don’t seem to be doing it.

“People who drop glass don’t care about anyone, they throw it on the floor and anyone can get hurt by it.

“I want everyone to know about this so they can pick up everything and really care.”

A City of London Corporation spokesman said: “We are very sorry to hear that Clio was injured on the Heath and hope she makes a speedy recovery.

“The City of London Corporation takes safety on the Heath very seriously for dogs and all other users, so we ask visitors to take their litter home with them or deposit it in one of the many bins.

“On a busy weekend, our staff can collect in excess of 12 tonnes of waste. ]

“Together with the annual Litter Blitz, we are working hard to tackle this issue but again encourage all Heath users to be considerate when disposing of glass and other waste.”