Dog walkers in Burnham could face fines for letting their pets off leads along the town’s seawall if new plans get the green light.

Burnham Town Council is supporting plans to introduce a public space protection order along the 1km seawall between Royal Corinthian Yacht Club and Burnham Sailing Club at a town council meeting last week.

The order would force dogs to be kept on leads at all times along this section of the seawall.

The idea was proposed by Burnham Town Councillor Vanessa Bell.

She said: “The order allows a council to make a specific order to stop a specific kind of behaviour in certain areas where there are problems. A lot of councils have used them to stop street drinking for example.

“What this new order will do is require people to keep their dogs on their leads from the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club and along to Burnham Sailing Club.”

It is hoped that the rule will cut down on the amount of dog mess that is littering the town.

Mrs Bell, who took to spray painting the dog waste to expose the problem, said: “Our view is that a lot of the dog mess that is being left along the seawall is caused by people having their dogs off the lead and not picking up after them.

“The dog could be off around the corner doing its business and because they might have looked away or be chatting to someone they don’t notice.

“However, if the dogs are on the lead and close by it is harder for the owner to miss and harder for them to ignore.

“Enforcement may be the issue as it is with everything, but if anyone is caught with a dog off the lead they could end up with a fine.

“I think the plan is that signs will be put up around there to let people know when the new rule is in place.

“It received unanimous support from the town council at the meeting, so now we go to Maldon District Council to discuss getting it implemented.”