SIGNAGE to spell out a dog ban on part of Minehead beach was being installed this week, six months after councillors agreed to it.

Somerset Council decided in May to reintroduce a ban on dogs using parts of the beach with immediate effect.

But delays in obtaining new signs displaying the details and penalties left dog owners unwittingly risking fines of up to £1,000.

Now, the signs have arrived and were being put in place during this week.

The ban, which takes the form of a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), prohibits dogs on the stretch of beach between the groyne at Minehead Golf Club and the Jubilee Café from May 1 to September 30.

PSPOs have to be reviewed every three years and the new order comes five years after the former district council forgot to renew a previous one when it expired in 2019.

However, the council left signage in place which gave the public the impression dogs were still banned during those years.

The new PSPO also bans dogs from the town’s Blenheim Gardens and from parks and children’s play areas in Dulverton, Dunster, Carhampton, Crowcombe, Brushford, Porlock, Washford, Watchet, Timberscombe, Williton, Withycombe, Alcombe, and Wheddon Cross.

Somerset Cllr Mandy Chilcott, who represents Minehead, said there was still an area of beach between the cafe and the harbour which could be used by dogs, meaning there was ‘space for everybody to enjoy the beach, and if families want to be in an area without dogs, that is accommodated’.