Experts from Raigmore Hospital in Inverness and Sengkang General Hospital in Singapore conducted a review, published in the journal Injury Prevention, of five US studies of almost 500,000 injuries.

Almost three-quarters (74%) of the injuries were among women and 31% were among people over the age of 65.

Of these injuries, some 110,000 were related to hand or wrist injuries.

The research team found that broken fingers were the most common injury and being pulled by a lead was the most common cause of a ‘direct dog-related injury'.

The researchers wrote: ‘This review highlights a significant number of dog walking-related hand and wrist injuries, particularly in the elderly and female population.

‘While finger fractures were the most frequently reported injury, the cost analysis in this review focused on distal radius fractures due to their substantial economic impact.

‘We estimated the potential annual cost of dog walking-related wrist fractures in the UK to exceed £23m.'

The authors highlight how in the UK there are around 8.5 million dogs.

They added: ‘Policies should teach dog owners optimal dog walking practices to minimise injuries and enforce adequate dog training to reduce the risk of dogs injuring the person walking them.'