MICHELE BICKNELL AND LANCASTER CITY COUNCIL

That this House notes that on 5 December 2012 Michele Bicknell walked across Morecambe Promenade with her small Jack Russell dog off its leash in order to get to the beach and was then stopped by an official from Lancaster City Council who demanded she paid an 80 fine; further notes that when Miss Bicknell refused to pay - due to alack of signage - the council official pursued her with a colleague and two police officers; believes that it was a waste of police and council time to chase Miss Bicknell; further believes the council must display common sense in applying dog control orders; calls on the council to rescind this fine in the name of common sense, stop wasting resources harassing responsible dog owners and put up better signage; and further calls on them to stop calling the police unless absolutely necessary as it costs the hard pressed taxpayer money.