A DONKEY ride operator at a North-East resort wants a ban on dogs after two of his donkeys were savaged in front of holidaymakers.

Guy Smith said donkeys Penny and Leo, which carry hundreds of holidaymaking children along Scarborough's South bay beach every summer, received leg and face injuries after being attacked by a Staffordshire bull terrier.

"There is a constant problem with dogs roaming around the beach. It is time there was a complete ban on dogs using the beach, particularly as many are not in the control of their owners."

But a spokesman for Scarborough Borough Council's environmental health department said that, while there was a beach ban on dogs during the summer months, there were no plans to extend it throughout the year.