Dog-free zone on the beach?

I could not agree more with last week's letter entitled "Complete dog ban a dream". We have young children and have experienced similar problems.A complete dog ban could be a reality in some places, for example an area of Exmouth Beach could be dog-free all year round. Most parks already have dog-free areas for children to play safely from dogs' mess and unknown dogs. Also, if more areas made dogs on leads compulsory, perhaps their owners would notice when they need to clear up? It is a shame that areas of outstanding natural beauty in East Devon are ruined by dogs' mess but, of course, it is the owners who do not pick up who are to blame. This mess is bound to have an effect on the flora and fauna in these areas. The other letter in last week's Journal - "Dog put feeding birds to flight " - was very upsetting to read. Surely there should be times of the year when total dog bans are in place to prevent this happening again?Let's take a pride in our town and keep it clean, our children safe from disease from dogs' mess and our flora and fauna protected. Please pick up! Name and address withheld.