ANOTHER year will be added to Weymouth’s existing public spaces dog orders which were due to expire at the end of May.

It will mean existing dog bans on the beach remaining in place as they have done for the past year with a review of the orders expected to take place in the autumn of this year.

A formal decision on the extension was agreed at Tuesday’s meeting of the borough council’s management committee.

The delay has been caused by extra work for officers caused by the creation of the new Dorset Council, now less than two months away.

Weymouth resident Jonathan Pullen said in the public section of the meeting that he supported the idea of continuing the dog orders – exactly as they are.

He said continuing the order would ensure that there was protection for the beaches from dog litter and some dog owners who, he said “professed innocence” about the use of public spaces they should not be using.

“There are a minority who think the by-laws apply to others and not to them.” he said.

Committee chairman, Cllr Geoff Cant, said there had been few issues, other than public toilets, which were had been as contentious since he joined the council in 2015.

He said that he hoped the new Dorset Council and the new Weymouth Town Council would turn their attention early on to the issue of dogs on the beaches and any potential changes to the orders in plenty of time for the 2020 season.

Team leader for environmental protection, Jane Williams warned that if the extension to the existing order was not agreed the new council would find it difficult to undertake enforcement action against owners.

She says one of the other advantages of a delay is that it would allow the new Weymouth Town Council to take part in the consultation.