Dog lovers take the lead on beach fine

Jun 11 2008 by Babette Decker, The Journal

DOG lovers in a seaside village are offering to pay a £75 fine imposed on a visitor who fell foul of a controversial ban on dogs being exercised on the local beach.

Campaigners in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, say they are embarrassed that one of the first three people to be fined for breaching the blanket ban was a visitor from Berwick.

They are now trying to contact the man and will offer to pay his fine and apologise to him and his wife for their treatment at the hands of Wansbeck District Council, which introduced the ban on March 1.

The Journal revealed on Saturday how the first three £75 fixed penalty fines for flouting the ban have been issued to the unnamed Berwick visitor and two local dog owners from Newbiggin and North Seaton.

It was introduced by the council despite a 1,000-name protest petition gathered by local dog owners, and objections from the Kennel Club and local MP Denis Murphy, who all say the all-year ban is too restrictive.

Signs have been put up warning dog owners that they face being fined if they take their pets onto the beach, which was restored last summer.

Yesterday, Newbiggin school caretaker and dog owner Colin Hawkshaw, who helped organise the petition, said: “We want to make contact with the man from Berwick so that we can pay his £75 fine, or reimburse him if he has already paid. We also want to apologise to him and his wife for the treatment they have received.

“They are from Berwick and probably didn’t realise dogs were banned from Newbiggin beach. Local dog lovers are disgusted that the council should fine a visitor when we are trying to encourage people to come here. We are not planning to pay for everyone who gets fined, but since this is the first visitor, we want to show them that not everyone down here is anti-dogs.”

A council spokesman said: “It is definitely not our intention to drive visitors away from Newbiggin beach or penalise them, but we introduced this ban to keep the beach as clean and safe as possible for families with children to enjoy. There are signs warning people about the ban on the beach and promenade and there has been widespread publicity.”

The Berwick visitor can contact the dog owners via The Journal on (01670) 824929.