RABBITS plaguing a Dorchester allotment could be culled.

Allotment holders said their crops were being destroyed by dozens of rabbits which have made the Alington Avenue site their home.

Now they are demanding some form of pest control measures to rid them of the menace.

Angry allotment holders made the call at a meeting of Dorchester Town Council's recreational activities panel and warned that they were so sick of the rabbits many were threatening to get out of the site altogether.

Mervyn Travers said the problem has been ongoing for a couple of years despite attempts to fence off the rabbits and he said the problem was becoming worse.

He said the rabbits had got in behind rubble left on the site, which was meant to be used for hard standing, and had continued to breed.

"They are starting to burrow under my allotment on a daily basis. You can fill the holes in, but when you go back the next day you can see another hole in the same place or another place.

"We all have wire mesh around out allotments and netting over the top, but it doesn't stop them. They are now eating the crops."

Allotment holders have placed a placard warning against the creatures on the gate and spent £60 to reinforce wire around the site but to no avail.

Site co-ordinator Arthur Cox said: "They are getting out of control and it's really upsetting us. We work hard on our allotments and then we get this decimation. Some people are thinking of stopping altogether.

"The only way we are going to get rid of them that I can see is through a pest control system."

Andy Canning, chairman of the panel, said: "I am disappointed that the fence has not proved good enough by itself to deal with the problem.

"We are planning to move a lot of people on site from other allotments so it needs to be sorted out before that happens. It's a priority to sort this out.

"The priority is to get rid of the rubble and then get someone in to look at getting rid of the rabbits, and once that's happened look at new fencing."

Coun Canning said that an expert would probably use ferrets and a net to rid the allotment of the rabbits.