I THINK it's a sad reflection of our time that responsible dog owners should be punished because of a minority of ill-trained, ill-equipped and irresponsible owners who are neither true dog lovers nor environment-friendly individuals.

I'm annoyed when people take the time to pick it up and bag it, then hang it from a tree or leave it on the floor.

There is no excuse, if there's no bin you carry it till you find one, it's all part of being a responsible dog owner.

I agree it is important to clean up our beaches and our parks, but we can only do this by working together and not dividing communities.

Litter is discarded on a daily basis on our beaches, parks and in our public spaces.

We are destroying the environment; everyday people discard rubbish, which is a risk for people and our canine companions.

Banning dogs from spaces will not solve the problem just move it to become someone else's problem.

Dog owners are an easy target, it's easier to ban them and enforce the law but not so for other members of the community.

I know there are a lot of Wirral residents and visitors who do not like dogs and certain coastal areas could be made "people-friendly" but you don't have to ban dogs to do this.

As long as they are on a lead and under control.

We have a beautiful coastline, which we should all be allowed to share and enjoy.

We also have some lovely parks on the Wirral and to ban dogs from Birkenhead Park, a community park, is to take away the freedom for a lot of people who use it on a regular basis, where do they go?

All our parks are covered in litter discarded by us and we all need to take responsibility before it's too late.

People have been using these spaces for years and Wirral council are playing the same game as when they introduced the parking charge, aim higher, be seen to compromise, and they then get the end result they wanted.

Work with local communities and don't blame the dog community.

Lynne Harris, by email