Tenby’s streets and beaches came under fire again this week, with the authorities criticised for failing to dish out fines to tackle dog fouling and beach ban breaches.

Two letters that came before a meeting of the town council on Tuesday night on the subject, were discussed by members.

“Tenby is a beautiful place and I would recommend it without hesitation,” wrote Irene Ruttle, who said she had stayed in the resort with her family and grandchildren for a week in August.

“The downside was all the dog fouling, I have never seen so much on the streets! I think a clean-up campaign is in order,” she continued.

More correspondence on the matter came from Wayne Wilkins, who had enjoyed a two-week stay in the town, but wondered where the dog wardens were in enforcing the summer beach ban on dogs.

“What a nice two weeks we have had here in Tenby - clean streets, rubbish bins emptied daily, even parking wardens doing their job with a smile!” he wrote.

“So where were the wardens doing their job keeping the dogs off the beaches?! All you see is dogs doing their business, with owners not bothering to clean up after their pet.

“We come here because of the so-called clean beaches, we don’t come here to see dog mess on the beaches!” he continued, suggesting that the problem might be solved if the ‘so-called £500 fines’ for dog owners who take their dogs on the beaches between May and September, were dished out.

Commenting on the letters, Clr. Will Rossiter felt that the dog fouling wasn’t as bad this year as it had been in previous summers, but his colleague Clr. Paul Rapi disagreed.

“It is bad... as bad as it’s ever been before!” he commented.

Clr. Rossiter said that a lack of signage on the beaches played a part.

“I saw five dogs walking across the Castle Beach the other day. We had this discussion about a lack of signage before the holiday season started, but the dogs have been on both the banned beaches all across the summer,” he added.

Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown felt the signage was definitely more prolific this summer and that owners had been taking notice of the beach ban warnings.

“What can we do, there is nobody to police it but ourselves, it’s very difficult!” she commented.

The town clerk, Andrew Davies, said that one parking enforcement officer had tried to assist over the summer and RNLI lifeguards had also been tasked with informing people if they were breaching the beach ban.

“I’ve spoken to several people, but you have to take their word for it, that they’ve not seen the signage. You can’t have signs that run the length of the beach,” he remarked.

“All we can do is write back to these people who have written to us to complain and say we are working hard on trying to reprimand the culprits on it, but we can’t be everywhere,” added Clr. Mrs. Brown.

The Mayor suggested that the correspondence be forwarded to Pembrokeshire County Council.