Dogs are to be banned from a number of beaches in Cornwall during peak times from Saturday as restrictions come back into force.

Although the majority of the Duchy's beaches remain unaffected until July 1, there is a list of 12 beaches where the restrictions begin on May 15 and run until September 30.

It means dogs will be banned from the beaches between 10am and 6pm, seven days a week.

The beaches where the early ruling comes into force are: Carbis Bay Beach, Carbis Bay; Crackington Haven, Bude; Crooklets Beach, Bude; Gyllyngvase Beach, Falmouth; Polzeath Beach, Polzeath; Porth Beach, Porth; Porthmeor Beach, St Ives; Porthminister Beach, St Ives; Porthtowan Beach, Porthtowan; Sennen Beach, Sennen; Trevone Beach, Padstow; Widemouth Beach, Bude.

Cornwall Council said this was because Blue Flag and Seaside Award beaches have longer restrictions, due to the requirements of the award status.

In addition there are three protected wildlife areas that are subject to individual restrictions.

They are Carnsew Pool, Copperhouse Pool and Hayle Estuary, where there is a 24-hour ban on dogs all year round.

Last year Cornwall Council decided to change the restrictions so that times and dates were uniform across Cornwall.

A review of the first year last November found that there were 252 service requests, complaints and enquiries in 2020 – up from 234 in 2019.

Of those 47 related to dog fouling on beaches. The beaches with the most complaints in 2020 were Polzeath (38), Gyllyngvase (25), Porthtowan (16), Porthminster (14), Porth (13), and St Ives Harbour (12).

Dog welfare and enforcement officers carried out 344 patrols of dog restricted beaches during the summer – a big increase on last year when just 71 patrols were done.

On 182 of the patrols no dogs were seen on restricted beaches, on 46 visits there was one dog, on 49 patrols there were two to four dogs and on 19 patrols five or more dogs were seen.

Council civil enforcement officers also carried out patrols on beaches – between May and September they saw 187 dogs on Polzeath; 138 on Crooklets Beach; eight dogs on Crackington Haven; five on Trevone and one on Porthtowan.

There were five notices issued – three for dogs on Polzeath Beach and two for dogs on Porth Beach in Newquay.

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Further beaches where restrictions will come into force on the first day of July are:

Cadgwith Cove, Cadgwith; Castle Beach, Falmouth; Cawsand Beach, Cawsand; Chapel Porth Beach, St Agnes; Church Cove, Gunwalloe; Harveys Towans; Godrevy Point, Hayle (See maps to show the defined area); Housel Bay, The Lizard; Kennack Sands Beach, The Lizard; Kynance Cove, The Lizard; Maenporth Beach, Falmouth; Mousehole Beach to Skilly Beach (See maps to show the defined area); Wherry Town to Battery Rocks (See maps to show the defined area); Longrock level crossing to Marazion (See maps to show the defined area); Perranuthnoe; Poldhu Beach, Mullion; Polurrian Cove Beach, Mullion; Porthcurno Beach, Porthcurno; Porthgwarra Beach, St Levan; Porthgwidden Beach, St Ives; Porthleven West, Porthleven; Porthpean Beach, St Austell; Portmellon Cove, Mevagissey; Portreath Beach including Harbour, Portreath; Praa Sands Beach, Praa Sands; Readymoney Cove, Fowey; St George’s Well, Padstow; St Ives Harbour Beach, St Ives; Summer’s Beach, St Mawes; Swanpool Beach, Falmouth; Tattam’s Beach, Portscatho; Tunnel Beach, Falmouth.