FARMERS in Coughton and the surrounding areas fear for the safety of their livestock after reports of wild boars roaming the land.

In one incident, a farmer was forced to shoot one of the beasts after he was warned there was a vicious boar on the loose and one of his heifers was attacked.

Graham Hancocks from Coughton Field Farm said: "My heifers were chased onto a neighbours land by a boar and one was injured by it.

"She needed two hours of treatment to sew up the wound. Later on, we saw it about 60 yards from the farm and it disappeared.

"We phoned the police and asked what to do if we spotted it again. They said it could be dangerous and we should shoot it to protect our animals.

"Later on we spotted it again and had to shoot it. We'd rather have not had to kill it but we had no choice because it was hungry and may have tried to get into our cow sheds to find food."

Mr Hancocks said the beast was the size of a Shetland pony with no neck and with the legs cut off at the first joint.

"It was very large, about 300lbs and four of us couldn't lift it."

Adam Quinney, from the NFU, said: "Wild boars are basically pigs with attitude. They're not actually that vicious but when cornered or hungry they will attack like most animals would.

"They can also do damage to crops and there is a danger of cross-breeding if they get into the pens and impregnate the pigs."

Police confirmed they had been notified about a wild boar sighting in the area.