Instow Beach.

Councillors to digest reports before Instow Parish Council meets again next month.

A decision on who will take up the Instow Beach cleaning contract and whether dogs should be barred from parts of the beach has been deferred until at least next month.

At its meeting last night (Thursday), Instow Parish Council discussed the ‘overwhelming response’ to a public consultation on how the beach should be cleaned and whether dogs should be controlled.

Now it will wait while councillors, including newly elected members Michael Champion, Bob Harrison and Will Vandersteen, study a draft report following the consultation. The next full meeting of the council is on March 21.

Proposals to ban dogs from parts of the beach during the summer and for them to be kept on leads in some areas prompted an outcry from dog owners who use the beach and said they would have nowhere else to take their pets.

The council also wants to decide how the beach should be cleaned before the contract is put out to tender.