Council officers are being given new powers to tell dog owners to put their pets on a lead in public.

The district-wide public spaces protection order put in place by Tendring Council will come into effect on August 1.

The PSPO orders follows a child being injured in a dog attack on Grigson Drive in Clacton on Wednesday.

The young girl was taken to hospital with facial injuries.

Ppolice have since said the child is “recovering well” with the injuries not being as severe as initially thought.

Esther Martin, 68, from Jaywick died after being attacked by two XL bully dogs, on February 3.

Ashley Warren, 40, of Walnut Road, Leyton, London was charged in connection wit the incident on Thursday. 

The public spaces protection order allows authorised council officers to request a dog is put on a lead and issue fines to owners if they fail to comply.

The order also allows officers to issue on the spot fines of £100 to those who do not pick up their pet’s mess.

The order was approved by the council’s cabinet following a 12-week public consultation and covers all public land in the Tendring district.

Council environment boss Mike Bush said: “Residents asked us to take a tougher staff on dog fouling and this PSPO will strengthen our hand when dealing with irresponsible owners.

“The majority of dog owners clean up after their dog and ensure their pet is on a lead in public areas if it cannot be controlled by command, but there is a small minority of owners who do not."

Mr Bush added: “This order is another tool in the box for us to deal with them, helping to ensure residents can take pride in our area, raising quality of life and enabling us to champion our local environment.”

New signs outlining the restrictions will be installed at a number of locations in the area.

PSPOs were first introduced under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 which gives local authorities the power to ban activities that have a detrimental effect on people's quality of life.