SHOCKED neighbours say they are disgusted that a herd of goats in Purbeck was put down when a grazing trial failed.

The National Trust rescued 18 British feral goats from the abattoir to see if it could use them as part of its heathland restoration scheme in Purbeck.

Although the animals successfully kept down scrub, they also proved impossible to pen within safe grazing areas and repeatedly escaped, causing damage to nearby gardens and a golf course.

But neighbours living close to where the goats were penned say the creatures should not have been put down and blamed the National Trust for not building the fences high enough.

"The National Trust brought in those animals to carry out conservation work, but because the fences they built didn't hold them they shot the poor creatures," a neighbour said.

The goats were initially brought to graze Studland and Godlingston heaths to help keep down the scrub, but they regularly escaped from their electric-enced area.

It took National Trust staff three weeks to round up 15 of the animals, but three are still at large.

The trust then attempted to use the herd to graze the steep slopes at Corfe Castle, but it proved equally difficult to corral them as they kept jumping over the six-foot fences set up to contain them.

"Unfortunately we were not in a position to be able to find alternative locations for them, which would have allowed us to provide the sufficient levels of veterinary support necessary to the herd or ensure that they were a safe distance from roads," a trust spokesman said.

"Having unsuccessfully investigated alternative homes for them and with no grazing area available for their feed it would have been irresponsible for us to allow them to roam wildly."