I walk dogs along the Rodwell Trail and believe that councillors are very short-sighted in making owners keep dogs on leads along there.

Firstly: there are lots of areas where dogs like to run around - up and down the banks in the cutting, through the bushes around Sandsfoot, and along the rough grass towards Ferrybridge.

It's not much of a walk for them to be on a lead on tarmac.

Secondly: there is always dog mess on the tarmac.

It is there because the dogs can't run into the surrounding area to poo, which is a natural instinct - and owners still can't be bothered to clear it up.

Thirdly: presumably the councillors think the reason to keep dogs on leads along the trail is because there are cyclists.

Unfortunately the cyclists are far more badly behaved than the dogs and rarely warn walkers of their approach, or slow down.

Many times I or the dogs have nearly been mown down by a speeding cyclist who has no bell, and apparently, no voice either.

I cycle along there and have been thanked for using my bell to warn walkers, because it is such a rarity.

Finally, the dog owners who should be prosecuted are those who pick up the mess in a bag and then discard the bag in the hedge, hang it on the fence or leave it by the path.

What is the point in picking it up? In many cases it would be better to kick it into the long grass.

A Bardswell, Westhill Road, Wyke Regis.