A LYE dog lover is now too "frightened" to walk her four-legged friends in a public park after being attacked three times in the last four months.

Anna Coley walked her neighbours two dogs at Stevens Park, Wollescote, daily but after the latest attack, she has vowed to stick to the pavements with terriers, Hamish and Bobby.

The 50-year-old was left shaken after a Staffordshire bull terrier "came out of nowhere" and grabbed Hamish last Wednesday.

She said: "I managed to pull it off and then it grabbed Bobby. Eventually I managed to grab it by its harness until the owner came. He didn't seem at all sorry that his dog had done this. He tried to shoo him away but still didn't put him on a lead, I ran with the dogs to the nearest exit."

She said other incidents involved Bobby being pinned to the floor by an Alsatian and being bitten by a springer spaniel.

Despite there being no injuries to the dogs, the three attacks have left her unsettled: "I won't go over the park any more, I am too frightened, it's knocked me for six.

"People are being irresponsible having dogs that are not safe off the leads in the park. I'm petrified of every dog I see when I'm out walking them now, I've lost every ounce of confidence."

She informed Dudley Council of the incident and in response, Councillor Hilary Bills, cabinet member for environment and culture, said the matter would be looked into.

Cllr Bills added: " Although we don’t have specific dog wardens we have now logged this complaint with our enforcement officers who will carry out patrols in the park and do have the authority to request that any dog, which appears to be out of control, is put on a lead.

“Our borough parks are fantastic places for all kinds of leisure activities and this includes dog walking. For this reason, we don’t have restrictions in place to stop dog owners letting their pets off the lead.

"We would though like to take this opportunity to remind people to be responsible dog owners and to keep their pets on the lead when appropriate to ensure everyone is able to enjoy our parks.”