A rollout of eco-friendly food bins has been blamed for chaos caused by wild donkeys breaking into them to 'feast' on scraps - and spreading disease worries.
Plastic caddies to recycle leftovers have been distributed to residents in villages across Hampshire's picturesque New Forest this month for the first time. Yet locals are now raising concerns about hazardous knock-on effects.
Not just 'now', of course - they raised them well beforehand, and of course, they were ignored.
Once, of course, feeding foodscraps to domestic animals was a normal part of village life, not a council recycling goal - but that was before international trade took off, and the risks of introducing foot and mouth in foreign meats caused the practice to be banned.
There are concerns that livestock historically roaming free in the area - such as not only donkeys but also ponies and pigs - will find the discarded food irresistible.And now within just weeks of the caddies' introduction, donkeys have been spotted eating food out of the bins at locations across the southern English region.
Under the £5.6million programme, food waste caddies have been delivered to residents in Brockenhurst, New Milton, Lymington and surrounding areas between April this year and this month.
Whther they wanted them or not, of course!
'We are all for recycling especially as the area is so connected to nature but it needs to be done in the right way.
'We just want the council and other agricultural institutions to come together to create a solution. It's a different issue to that in urban areas.
'I believe that the bins need tougher locks that don't come open if the bins fall over and to be put out at the right time by the homeowners.'
I recently came back from a trip to Edinburgh to stay wih my brother - he has one of these caddies for food waste, and the local fox had no difficulty opening the latch and spreading the scraps around. So a larger animal like a donkey or pig will find it even easier.
So while one branch of government is trying to halt the spread of a dangerous animal disease, another branch is putting in place the conditions for it to spread repidly. 'Joined up government' -it's a great concept, if it ever happens,,,
Cllr Blunden added: 'We know this is a new way of doing things and may take some time to get used to. 'By working together, it will make a big impact for our environment, our district, and future generations.'
'We appreciate the concerns being raised about animals accessing the food waste and are continuing to monitor this in the early days of the new service.'
But you won't halt it, no matter what, because that would prove you were wrong, and that will never do!