AN investigation is under way after a goat died after eating hedge cuttings 'tipped into the enclosure' on Bournemouth East Cliff.

Flora the goat had to be taken off the cliffs after swallowing the cuttings which are understood to have been tipped into the enclosure, says her owner.

Despite the owner finding the cuttings before the other goats could eat them, Flora sadly died three weeks after eating the cuttings.

Owner of the herd, Mark Jackson said: "I had a phone call from the beach staff, somebody noticed one of the goats was sick and wasn't very well. So I jumped off of work and came down and few members of the park department came down and the vets and I had to take her (Flora) off the cliff.

"One of the members of the Hengistbury Head crew looked at the top of the enclosure and and found a load of hedge cuttings had been thrown over the fence.

"Unfortunately Flora ate some, not an awful lot because it doesn't take an awful lot to be poisoned by poisonous plants and after a three week battle of trying to keep her alive with all the medication, the vet decided to make the call to have her put down, which was correct because she couldn't stand up or eat or drink on her own.

"It was very distressing to see, I felt very upset actually and we've got hundreds of people on our Facebook page who are also very upset about it.

"One of the head rangers at the council has contacted the police and I know the wildlife officer for the police has been down to investigate."

A spokesperson for BCP Council said police had referred the incident back to council authorities to investigate.

Mr Jackson has asked the public not to feed the goats.

"The myth that goats can eat anything is completely wrong, there's a lot of stuff that they can't eat and there's a lot of stuff that is toxic and poisonous", he said.

"Please remember it's not just one person bringing a bag of carrots it can be 50 to 150 people a day bringing them so it's little and often if anybody does want to feed them. They're there to do the grazing and not be fed by the public.

"Last year we've had people trying to feed them chocolate bars, a hamburger, KFC chicken, it's crazy some of the things people try to feed them."