DOGS could be banned from Roadford Lake if their owners continue to flout the rule that they must be kept on leads.
South West Lakes Trust, which owns the lake north of Tavistock and west of Okehampton, is trying to persuade dog owners to observe the rule after receiving five complaints from walkers in the past two weeks.
'Dogs can jump up at people and scare them, even if they do not mean any harm,' said Toni Furse, spokesperson for the trust. 'We have put up clear signs up to ask people to keep them on leads, but some owners are ignoring the signs.'
Dogs running free could be a nuisance and a potential danger to children and the elderly, she said, as well as a disturbance to wildlife.
The trust has had to increase the frequency of its Ranger patrol of the lake from once a week to once a day.
The Ranger has had to speak to a number of owners to ask them to put their dog on a lead and they have all done so, but it is suspected that once out of sight the dog has been let off again.
'If it goes on, we could have to ban dogs from the lake,' said Toni Furse. 'We do have a dog exercise area where people can go and let the dog off its lead and they should stick to that area.'
She said the problem only seemed to be occurring at Roadford and not at other lakes owned by the trust.
'It is bizarre, I can't explain it,' she said.