Villagers have been ordered to only put their bins out on the morning of collection because they are being ransacked – by wild BOARS.
The feral hogs are causing chaos by brazenly venturing out of the forest and onto residential streets on bin day – after learning how to tip them over.
More than 1,000 wild pigs now roam free in the Forest of Dean but they used to keep themselves hidden in the thick woodlands.
But villagers have reported the feral hogs have been spotted wandering through urban areas at dusk in the search for food.
The usually-shy creatures have apparently “become educated” and learned how to smash through fences to reach bins and tip them over so they can rummage inside.
Baffled councillors have issued advice asking locals not to put out their bins the night before refuse collection day and use lockable containers, while a housing association has put up extra fences.
Cinderford Mayor Councillor Max Coborn said: “The trouble is the boar have learned there could be food in the bins.
“They are not daft these boar. They have become educated to the ways of the Forest.
All they need to do is tip the bin up once and find food and that’s it.
“They will do it all the time, the little ones start doing it as well and before you know it the whole family are tipping bins over.
“It’s not new. Years ago blue tits learned that they could peck the foil tops off milk bottles to steal the cream. It’s the same thing with the boar.”
The bolshy pigs have recently been spotted in Cinderford and Yorkley, wandering through gardens and along streets looking for food.
One fed up Cinderford resident said: “You’ve been able to see where they have been rooting around for food in the grass in the Linear Park and Valley Road for years but I’ve never heard of them getting as far as Woodside Avenue or Stockwell Green before.
“I heard two men spotted them going into gardens and herded them out as bast as they could before damage was done.”
Two Rivers Housing recently had to extend a fence at some homes in Yorkley because the boar kept breaking into the communal bin areas.
Now the council is now asking residents not to put their bins out the night before bin-day.
A Forest of Dean District Council spokesman said: “We are aware of incidents of the boars going in to some villages and knocking over refuse bins.
“Our advice to residents to reduce the risk of this, is to use the weekly food waste recycling service as the council-issue caddies are lockable, and also to avoid putting refuse bins and food waste caddies out the night before as this is when the boar are most active.
“Containers should to be presented by no later than 7.30am on collection day to ensure they are emptied.”
More than 1,000 wild pigs roam free in the Forest of Dean according to the Forestry Commission who have begun a cull to get rid of around 600.
It comes after locals reported they were attacking dogs and charging people.
In May one had to be shot by rangers after wandering into the centre of Coleford and posing a risk to the public.
Wild boar became extinct in Britain more than 300 years ago but reappeared in the Forest of Dean in 2004 when they were illegally reintroduced from farms.
The forest is now the largest breeding ground in the country, though groups of wild boar are springing up across Britain including in Kent, Devon and Dorset.
