Lock up your bin! Wild boar packs are on the prowl

FAMILIES have been told to lock wheelie bins away at night after wild boars were spotted hunting for food in urban areas.

The animals have been seen upturning bins and even rampaging around gardens on residential streets.

Households in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire are being advised not to put bins out until the morning of their collection to avoid the boars raiding them for scraps.

More than 1,000 wild swine roam free in the Forest of Dean after being re-introduced illegally 12 years ago, and had always kept themselves hidden in the thick woodlands.

But now the feral animals have been spotted in villages such as Cinderford and Yorkley wandering through urban areas at dusk scavenging for food.

Cinderford Mayor Max Coborn said: ‘The trouble is the boars have learned there could be food in the bins. They are not daft these boars. All they need to do is tip the bin up once and find food and that’s it.’

The Forestry Commission has begun a cull to get rid of around 600 boars in the area after locals reported they were attacking dogs and charging people.