IT was with a heavy heart that I read the story posted by Jan Bowen of West Kirby in which she gave her opinion on why the glorious beaches of the Wirral should be declared a dog free zone.

I am a dog walker and, along with my friends, enjoy the open space the beach provides for the general public to relax and unwind.

I, for one, am meticulous with regards to picking up my dog mess and trying to keep the beach clean.

Every week, as we walk along, we constantly pick up the mess and litter wilfully discarded at every turn, presumably by the dog-less families that Jan refers to.

Discarded barbecues, plastic drinks bottles, crisp packets, rotten food, nappies, plastic bags ..... the list goes on.

As we live in a free, open and democratic society we should not be so eager to segregate people by demographic.

What next?

Shall we ban the cyclists who hurtle along the beach pathways seemingly hell bent on mowing down anyone who happens in their way?

Or maybe fitness groups who dare to take over a sand dune or two in order to build their stamina?

You only need to watch the nightly news to to see the latest hate preachers, desperately trying to pull apart the very fabric of our society.

Why must be make matters worse by driving our own wedges between each other? At times like these we should all be pulling together.

There is room for us all in this world and there is certainly room for us all along the wide open spaces of the beaches of Wirral.

I would urge us all to take a breath, pause for thought and show a little patience and understanding to those who are simply trying to unwind after a long days work.

Walkers, ramblers, cyclists, joggers, surfers, kite-flyers and last but by no means least dog walkers all have a right to use the glorious beaches we are fortunate enough to have at our disposal.

After all, we all pay our taxes ... some more than others.

A very saddened dog walker by email