Photographs show a flock of sheep running riot across a small rural village – and causing havoc in gardens and on roads.
The animals have reportedly been roaming free for weeks in Godre’rgraig, South Wales, where families have stopped their children from playing outside due to “mounds of sheep muck”.
Stephan Jones, who lives in the village near Neath, said: “It’s been going on for at least four or five weeks.
“I got up one morning and there were two sheep in the garden so we shooed them on and they just keep coming back and back and back.”
The 37-year-old father said the animals have kept returning in large numbers.
Stephan told Wales Online: “They’re everywhere.
“There’s two that like my garden but other people have different groups that go in their gardens. So they’re setting up camp in different homes. The whole village is full of them now, there are probably 30+ feral sheep. There’s literally mounds of sheep muck and it’s everywhere”
The man continued: “They’re eating the hedge as well. We’ve got a really mature hedge and they’ve ripped holes in it through to next door.
“It’s a nightmare but we’ve given up chasing them away now because we chase them away and they’ve got nowhere to go, so they just come back.”
Many residents are concerned with the more serious consequences of the roaming sheep who have been spotted in the middle of local roads and even on the nearby A4067 bypass.
“I’m surprised that there hasn’t been an accident to be honest,” said Councillor Rosalyn Davies for the Godre’rgraig ward, who has been trying to get to the bottom of the issue since March 6.
“We have been trying to find out the owner, we did think it was a certain farmer but it’s not who we thought it was. It’s been ridiculous, they’ve been going into gardens, damaging things. A dry wall was knocked down in one house and they’ve been eating hedges and plants. It’s been a long time.”
Stephan said he had a close call around two weeks ago when he almost hit some sheep which were roaming on local roads.
“I was driving around the corner doing about 20mph and there was a ewe and a lamb running down the street in the middle of the road, I nearly went into them,” he explained.
Both local residents and Councillor Rosalyn Davies said they were concerned for the sheep’s welfare. “It’s not fair on the sheep either,” said Cllr. Davies, adding: “It’s not their fault.”
Stephan added that he had seen one sheep in a very poor condition, with a matted fleece which had brambles stuck in it.
“He looks in a pretty bad way. As much as they are a pest, I do feel sorry for them. It’s not their fault, they’ve got nowhere to go. But at the end of the day, the owner needs to take responsibility and sort it out.”
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