A ROW has broken out after marksmen shot wild boar in the woods near Speech House.

A member of the public complained to Friends of Boar after hearing shots at around 8.30am on Monday.

They said they came across a frightened woman walking her two dogs who was so scared and upset by the gunfire they had to walk her to her car.

The member of the public did not want to be named but the incident has been reported to police and campaigners have questioned why there were no signs warning the public to stay away.

It follows a statement by the Friends saying they are "appalled" by the FC's decision to shoot 100 animals between now and January and want the cull put on hold for another year.

Deputy Surveyor Kevin Stannard confirmed that his rangers had shot a boar near Speech House at that time as part of the new cull of feral boar.

"Forestry Commission rangers are highly trained and take health and safety very seriously," he said.

"There is no requirement for signing to be erected to warn the public as our rangers will only take a shot when it is absolutely safe to do so.

"We work on the basis that within the public forest estate a member of the public may be present at any time from dawn to dusk regardless of location within the Forest."

He said he understood the concerns of the Friends but he has to manage the numbers to balance a thriving population with limiting the impact on the community.

He said rangers were not going all out to meet the cull target but adopting a steady approach by using verified complaints to target problem areas and animals.

He said it was not feasible to get an accurate, independently verifiable population figure and had to set the target based on reliable estimates of the boar numbers.

But a statement from Friends said: "The FC figure of 600 boar is utterly fallacious. This would amount to one of the highest density of boar in Europe.

"We have utilised over 100 local supporters to look for boar over the summer and report it to us via our website http://www.friendsoftheboar.org">www.friendsoftheboar.org.

"We are sure that no more than 200 boar are present at the moment. With the arbitrary agreement of a target population of 400 boar to be introduced, any culling this year may once again endanger the existence of boar here."

Members deny claims the boar is causing a nuisance within the Forest and say having a season without any shooting has resulted in much less grass damage in picnic sites at Cannop, Speculation, Mallards Pike and Wenchford.

They say the £50,000 annual cost of the cull could be better spent elsewhere.