This is where dogs are banned in Preston - and where they must kept on a lead

However, the authority will investigate whether the signs advising of the restrictions need to be made clearer.

The rules – known as public space protection orders – were first put in place in 2012 under a previous regulatory regime and have to be periodically reviewed.

The animals will remain prohibited from play areas, water features and sports pitches at times while sport is being played. Dogs will still be allowed in cemeteries and crematoria, but must be kept on the footpaths and on a lead.

The rules also require them to be restrained on a lead in a range of other areas – including Miller Park, Winckley Square Park, the Japanese Garden in Avenham Park, parts of the city’s nature reserves, the Flag Market and all vehicular highways and the footpaths running alongside them.

Cabinet member for the environment Robert Boswell said that the restrictions were targeted – and far from being “draconian”.

“[In] the vast [majority] of the parks, you can still take your dog off the lead. Dogs can do quite a lot of damage to these areas, which are there for other purposes. For instance, in the nature reserves, you might have protected species’ breeding nests,” Cllr Boswell said.

The cabinet meeting heard that the council will look into the adequacy of the signage about dog control rules, after social justice cabinet member Nweeda Khan suggested that they could be improved to make the public a “bit more clearly aware of where the dogs are allowed and where they’re not”.

As part of the package of rules, it will also continue to be an offence to fail to clean up after your dog in all open air public spaces and also to refuse to comply with a direction from a council officer to put your pet on a lead.

Chief executive Adrian Phillips said that the regulations had made a difference since they were first introduced nearly a decade ago.

“Generally, people are picking up after their dog now and there are less challenges than we used to face,” he added.

“We are always seeking [to target our resources] where there are complaints and intelligence from the public.

“I think there is overriding public support for these control measures. They want a clean and safe environment.”

WHERE ARE DOGS NOT ALLOWED?

In the Preston City Council area, dogs must not be allowed into:

***Play areas

***Multi-use game areas and ball courts

***Bowling greens (except the perimeter footpaths)

***Skate parks, BMX tracks or youth shelters

***Sports pitches when organised sporting activity is taking place

***Fountains, water features, ponds or ornamental lakes

****Cemetery or crematorium grounds (except the footpaths or highways within them)

WHERE DO DOGS HAVE TO BE KEPT ON A LEAD?

In the Preston City Council area, dogs must be kept on a lead of no more than six feet in length of all of the following areas:

***All vehicular highways (including footways and verges within the highway width)

***Miller Park

***Footpaths adjacent to and leading to and from Avenham Park pavilion

***Japanese Garden in Avenham Park

***Winckley Square Park

***School fields and playgrounds

***:Leisure centre grounds, including sports pitches

***Council owned cemeteries and crematoria

***The Peace Garden at the junction of Friargate and Ringway

***The Flag Market, Market Place

***The city’s two covered markets

***Designated areas within local nature reserves at Haslam Park, Grange Valley, Pope Lane, Hills and Hollows, Fishwick Bottoms and Boilton Wood