The latest attempt to ban dogs on a patch of Sandbanks busy Blue Flag beach has been defeated.

“People need to learn to share space,” said Cllr Xena Dion, Borough of Poole cabinet portfolio holder for the environment.

A petition signed by 456 people calling for a year round dog ban was rejected by the council’s environment overview and scrutiny committee last November.

However they kept the door open by calling for the original smaller area of beach, rejected in 2009, to be dog free.

Now cabinet has turned down the latest plea and the current summer ban, from May to September remains, with two designated beaches where dogs can be walked.

The newest petition called for a ban on canines from the western sand dunes to Shore Road, “particularly so that children can enjoy it safely without being pestered by dogs.”

One dog-walking Poole resident supporting a ban said: “A year-round ban would allow children to enjoy their own beach without the problem of dogs urinating against their sandcastles or running up to them and knocking them over with the risk of another injured child, as has happened before.”

Scrutiny committee chairman Cllr Tony Trent said: “Cabinet seemed to be afraid of the well-organised dog walking lobby, though if you consider the few metres of beach that were under consideration out of around five miles of Poole beaches, if presented with the facts rather than exaggerated spin I am sure that dog walkers would have found this small compromise acceptable.

“Members of the overview and scrutiny included regular dog walkers and they had no problem supporting the compromise. We need to support families with children as well as dog walkers.”

Cllr Dion said there had been consultation on a smaller section only two years ago and there was strong feeling against a ban.

“It doesn’t make sense to go down that path,” she said. “We need to make sure we have a better presence down there and to try and enforce the bylaws. If we try and do that we can all live together without having bans.”