Rotterdam is stepping up measures to curb dangerous dogs in response to a series of biting incidents in the city.

Dogs belonging to ‘high risk breeds’, such as pitbulls, will be forced to wear muzzles in public and banned from communal spaces such as shopping centres and playgrounds. A hotline where people can report dangerous dogs is also being set up.

Animals that bite people will be put down by order of the council and the owner banned from owning dangerous breeds in future.

The stricter rules have been proposed by alderman Joost Eerdmans, who is responsible for animal welfare. A team of six enforcement officials will check that owners are complying with the rules on muzzling and leashing.

In August an eight-year-old girl was seriously injured when she was bitten by a pitbull owned by a man whose dogs had been involved in previous biting incidents.