SEVERAL incidents in the Cotswolds involving wild boar have prompted a response from north Wiltshire MP James Gray.

Mr Gray said that he would be taking the issue up with Natural England to gather evidence about the current wild boar population and to see what can be done to prevent further incidents.

He wrote: “I am becoming increasingly uneasy about the number of wild boar sighted in and around North Wiltshire, and was so saddened to learn this week of the death of my constituent Raymond Green who was killed in a collision with a wild boar which had somehow strayed onto the M4."

The accident which killed the 47-year-old Royal Wootton Bassett man involved him crashing into a particularly large wild boar between junction 17 and 18 of the M4 before his car was hit by a lorry.

Mr Green died at the scene and the lorry driver was treated for his injuries by an ambulance without being admitted to hospital.

Mr Gray continued: "These animals can wreak havoc on our countryside by digging up graveyards, gardens and grass verges, and we have learned today that one of HRH The Princess Royal’s pigs has been killed in an attack by a wild boar at Gatcombe Park.

"People are increasingly worried that the wild boar population is now out of control and constituents of mine in Box and in nearby Corsham have spotted them recently. I myself narrowly missed one recently near Didmarton.”

Have you seen a wild boar in the Cotswolds? Email eca@wiltsglosstandard.co.uk to let us know.