Sheep feud prompts action

Residents were angry the sheep roamed the village

Action is being taken to end a feud between a Forest of Dean village and a local sheep farmer.

Residents in Bream were angry when sheep belonging to Jeremy Awdrey were allowed to wander round the village.

They had been hoping that under a new sheep agreement, brought in as a result of foot-and-mouth disease, the animals would be better controlled.

The incidents started a row between Mr Awdrey, who is known as a 'ship badger' because he practices an ancient form of sheep farming, and the villagers through posters and leaflets.

Roam free

Now the Commoners' Association, of which Mr Awdrey is a member, has stepped in to end the dispute.

It has given its member 14 days to control his sheep.

He has been told to graze his animals, which have been bred to roam free, further into the woods and at night return them to his paddock.

Mick Holder, secretary of the association, said it accept that Mr Awdrey's sheep have been a nuisance.

He told BBC Radio Gloucester: "We have given the sheep badger, in particular, some advice and instruction on some alterations to his method of hefting.

"It would appear that he has taken this advice and taken instructions and over the last three days things have got markedly better."

'Old world'

John Marchant, chairman of the local parish council, has been monitoring the situation and says the intervention seems to be working.

He said there have been no incursions into the village since the association became involved.

"The problem seems to have gone away and we just hope it continues like that.

"To see the sheep just appear in Bream on 1 April was a disappointment and people felt that they were back to the old world ways."

Mr Marchant said people did not want to see the sheep leave completely.

"The sheep are used to roaming round the village. It is a traditional way of farming but in this day and age it is not acceptable to have sheep muck outside schools and on the streets.

"We don't want to get rid of the sheep but we are trying to move them back to the forest so they are not roaming around the streets."

He said the main problem was the sheep needed to be retrained, or hefted, but at an estimated cost of £20,000, the farmers - or 'badgers' - cannot afford to pay for it themselves.

"In Cumbria, farmers are being given a hefting allowance by Defra to pay for pens and food but Defra do not recognise the same rights for 'badgers' in the Forest of Dean.

"Until that changes, we are relying on the good will of the badgers to stop the sheep from roaming in the streets."