A SURVEY of the population of wild boar being carried out in north Wiltshire after a man was killed when he crashed into one on the M4.

North Wiltshire MP James Gray wrote a letter to Natural England shortly after the tragic death of Royal Wootton Bassett man Raymond Green, who struck one of the animals before being hit by a truck on the motorway.

In a reply to Mr Gray  the chairman of Natural England, Andrew Sells, said that he was shocked and saddened by the accident which led to the death of Mr Green.

Mr Sells confirmed that wild boar living free in the UK were the result of escapes or illegal releases into the wild and said that work was underway to investigate how many were roaming the countryside.

He wrote: “Following recent events and the apparent increase in the incident of wild boar activity last week including reported sightings of wild boar and around the area, I understand that Defra and the ‘Deer Initiative’ are surveying the area to establish wild boar numbers and I am pleased to say that we have provided a member of staff to support that effort.”

James Gray MP said: “I was delighted to receive a letter from Andrew Sells, Chairman of Natural England, in response to my call for action in which he states that DEFRA are going to survey the North Wiltshire area to establish wild boar numbers.

“I was pleased to see that Natural England are providing a member of staff especially for this work, and I very much hope that, once the monitoring work is completed, DEFRA will consider further steps to deal with the growing problem of wild boar in my constituency.” 

Suspected signs of wild boar have been recorded across north Wiltshire and one Standard reader sent pictures of what appear to be the results of wild boar searching for food and churning up the ground at Ringsbury Camp, Wiltshire.

Have you seen any evidence of wild boar in north Wiltshire or the Cotswolds? Let us know by emailing eca@wiltsglosstanard.co.uk