Deer cause chaos at allotment site after invading veggie patches
Allotment holders Roger Claxton, left, and John King, fed up with the muntjac at the Bush Road Allotments in Hellesdon, where the deer are damaging crops - Credit: DENISE BRADLEY/Archant2022
Allotment holders have been left aghast by muntjacs dashing through their plots and munching on their veg after trees were felled to make way for new homes.
The small deer have found a new place to live at the Bush Road allotments in Hellesdon after relocating from woodland chopped down to accommodate the former Royal Norwich Golf Course development.
Allotment holders had contacted the parish council over the issue to see if the muntjacs could be culled due to the level of disruption caused.
But the parish council told them this would not be considered appropriate as it would only be a "temporary solution".
Mark Vincent, chairman of the Hellesdon Allotment Holders Association, said his apple trees, peas and broad beans have all been destroyed.
He said: "They have been eating and damaging people's plots. We have had enough and these days the deer are classed as vermin.
"It is only a matter of time before they hurt someone. I hate to say it but if they knock a child over it could cause some serious damage. They are beefy and breed all year round."
Muntjacs have been killed in Cromer Road and Middleton's Lane since the golf course development he added.
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Roger Claxton, 80, has been an allotment holder since 2014 and said he has never known anything like the chaos caused by the animals.
He said: "We are at a bit of a stalemate and asked if we could get a professional person in to cull them.
"They are fast and it's so frightening. You have to see it to believe it.
"It's now their home and they will not want to leave as there are easy pickings for them. We do not know what to do."
It is understood the parish council leases the allotments from a private owner.
Temporary parish clerk, Russell Reeve, said: "We are looking at ways of dealing with that problem with the allotment holders at the present time.
"It is likely it will be a culmination of netting and other measures but it is quite difficult to control them as the allotments are on a rural land boundary and it is difficult to keep them out of the site."