A COURT has banned a dog walker from mentioning a rival’s business after a bitter row erupted between the two on Facebook.

Alana Mullen posted a series of videos in which she accused her rival of leaving dogs in a hot van.

Heather Sian Hiram, who runs Safe and Sound Hound in Edinburgh, angrily denied the claims and took the case to the city’s sheriff court.

This week a sheriff ordered Alana, of Pilrig Paws, not to mention her rival’s business “in any format in any place”.

Having won the first round of her legal battle, Ms Hiram is now considering whether to launch a defamation action against Alana.

The bizarre row kicked off on June 20 this year when Ms Mullen “ambushed” Ms Hiram in an Edinburgh street.

Ms Mullen's videos, uploaded six days later, showed what she claimed were dogs left inside Heather’s van and “panting” as temperatures outside hit 20 degrees C.

Ms Hiram, a former solicitor, responded to the posts by adding that her van was air-condition and accused Ms Mullen of setting out to damage her reputation for commercial reasons.

She then took the highly unusual step, for a social media row, of going to court.

Speaking today, Ms Hiram said: “It’s not really something that everyone can afford to pursue because of the legal expenses, but I hope that it can send a warning to people who consider posting things like this online.

“You can’t just do things like that and expect there will be no come back.

“I’m not sure whether or not I’m going to go ahead with a defamation action, I’m currently taking advice on that.

“I’m relieved, but I’m still angry.”