A HERD of fallow deer has been slaughtered in the Forest after becoming contaminated with bovine TB.

Landowner Brian Thornton says 130 deer on his estate at Aylburton Common had to be destroyed, wrecking 20 years of genetic research and leaving him with no compensation.

"It's a nightmare. We're just finishing destroying the herd," said Brian, who runs the estate with his wife Verity.

He said that unlike cattle in milk or beef herds, for which tests could be carried out and compensation paid, he would get nothing.

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